Fibrous network of highly integrated carbon nanotubes/MoO₃ composite bundles anchored with MoO₃ nanoplates for superior lithium ion battery anodes

Fibrous network of highly-integrated CNTs/MoO₃ composite bundle in which CNTs anchored with MoO₃ nanoplates was prepared by electrospinning process and subsequent simple heat-treatment. By performing the pre-acid-treatments of both CNTs and PAN, dipole-dipole interactions and hydrogen bonding between CNTs and PAN could form MoO₂(acac)₂-PAN-CNTs complex in a solution, which allows for the formation of a stable jet during electrospinning. Notably, by selectively removing PAN in as-spun fibers during heat-treatment, a highly integrated CNTs/MoO₃ bundle network anchored with MoO₃ nanoplates was obtained. This unique CNTs/MoO₃ percolation network makes it possible to achieve a superior lithium ion storage performance by improving electrical conductivity and structure stability. Thus, the unique nanostructure has high discharge capacities of 972 mA h g⁻¹ after 100 cycles at 1.0 A g⁻¹ and 905 mA h g⁻¹ after 800 long-term cycles at 2.0 A g⁻¹, when applied as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries. The discharge capacities of 980, 920, 819, 742, 599, 484, and 374 mA h g⁻¹ were observed at current densities of 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 5.0, 7.0, and 10.0 A g⁻¹, respectively.