Ion-Exchange Route Induced Heterostructured CoS₂/FeS Nanoparticles Confined in Hollow N-Doped Carbon Frameworks for Enhanced Sodium Storage Performance

Abstract

As a result of the high theoretical capacities, transition metal sulfides have attracted increasing attention as potential anodes for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), but severely suffer from large volumetric variations, sluggish kinetics, and polysulfide shuttling. Herein, utilizing metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) as functional templates, heterostructured CoS2/FeS nanoparticles confined in a hollow N-doped carbon framework are successfully fabricated via a controlled ion-exchange reaction combined with subsequent carbonization and sulfurization processes. The construction of CoS2/FeS heterointerfaces promotes electron transfer and provides more active sites, while the derived N-doped carbon framework with a unique hollow interior effectively improves the electrical conductivity, alleviates the volumetric variations, and facilitates the sodium storage process with shortened Na+ diffusion paths. As anodes for SIBs, the optimal CoS2/FeS hybrid composite exhibits a high initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE) of 89.3%, a prolonged cycle life with a capacity of 494 mAh g–1 over 500 cycles under a current density of 1.0 A g–1, and an excellent rate capability of 428 mAh g–1 at 5.0 A g–1, showing the great promise for SIBs. This research offers an efficient and feasible approach for exploring and fabricating bimetallic sulfide heterostructures with a unique hollow structure for high-performance metal-ion batteries.