Phosphorus-mediated MoS₂ nanowires as a high-performance electrode material for quasi-solid-state sodium-ion intercalation supercapacitors

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) is a promising electrode material for electrochemical energy storage owing to its high theoretical specific capacity and fascinating 2D layered structure. However, its sluggish kinetics for ionic diffusion and charge transfer limits its practical applications. Here, a promising strategy is reported for enhancing the Na⁺-ion charge storage kinetics of MoS₂ for supercapacitors. In this strategy, electrical conductivity is enhanced and the diffusion barrier of Na⁺ ion is lowered by a facile phosphorus-doping treatment. Density functional theory results reveal that the lowest energy barrier of dilute Na-vacancy diffusion on P-doped MoS₂ (0.11 eV) is considerably lower than that on pure MoS₂ (0.19 eV), thereby signifying a prominent rate performance at high Na intercalation stages upon P-doping. Moreover, the Na-vacancy diffusion coefficient of the P-doped MoS₂ at room temperatures can be enhanced substantially by approximately two orders of magnitude (10⁻⁶–10⁻⁴ cm² s⁻¹) compared with pure MoS₂. Finally, the quasi-solid-state asymmetrical supercapacitor assembled with P-doped MoS₂ and MnO₂, as the positive and negative electrode materials, respectively, exhibits an ultrahigh energy density of 67.4 W h kg⁻¹ at 850 W kg⁻¹ and excellent cycling stability with 93.4% capacitance retention after 5000 cycles at 8 A g⁻¹.