Interfacial modulation of hollow ZnS-SnS2 microboxs by Ti3C2Tx MXene to construct three-dimensional hybrid anodes for lithium-ion batteries with ultra high stability at low temperature

A self-assembly strategy was proposed to fabricate polyaniline encapsulated hollow ZnS-SnS2 heterojunction confined on MXene nanosheets, which demonstrates reversible capacity stabilized at 362.5 mAh/g for 250 cycles at −20 °C. [Display omitted] •Hollow bimetallic sulfides with heterojunction confined on MXene nanosheets are successfully synthesized.•The specific capacity of H-ZSSMP can reach 520.3 mAh/g after 1000 cycles at 2 A/g.•The reversible capacity of H-ZSSMP can stabilize at 362.5 mAh/g for 250 cycles at −20 °C.•Theory calculation confirm heterogeneous interface speeds up the transfer of ions through the interfacal regulation effect of MXene on H-ZSS. Metal sulfides exhibit obvious volume expansion due to the inherent poor conductivity and large temperature fluctuations, leading to reduced storage capacity. Herein, an electrostatic self-assembly strategy was proposed to fabricate a three-dimensional (3D) polyaniline (PANI) encapsulated hollow ZnS-SnS2 (H-ZSS) heterojunction confined on Ti3C2Tx MXene nanosheets (H-ZnS-SnS2@MXene@PANI, denoted as H-ZSSMP), which exhibits remarkable reversible capacity and cyclic stability (520.3 mAh/g at 2 A/g after 1000 cycles) at room temperature. Additionally, specific capacity can stabilized at 362.5 mAh/g for 250 cycles at −20 °C. A full cell with the configuration of H-ZSSMP//lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) can retain a satisfactory reversible capacity of 424.7 mAh/g after 100 cycles at 0.1 C. Theory calculations confirm heterogeneous interface can accelerate the transfer of ions through the interfacial regulation effect of MXene on H-ZSS. Our work provides a simple strategy to improve the capacity and stability of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), as well as the new applications of MXene and bimetallic sulfides as anode materials, which will facilitate the development of MXene based composites for energy storage.