Polyethylene glycol intercalation for MoS2 enables fast zinc-ion storage via pseudocapacitance

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has significant potential in aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) due to its unique layered structure and adjustable layer spacing. However, the electrochemical performance remains unsatisfactory primarily due to the limited interlayer spacing. Here, a composite material consisting of MoS2 nanosheets with expanded interlayer spacing and intercalated surfactant polyethylene glycol (PEG) is proposed as a cathode material for AZIBs. The results indicate that PEG is intercalated into the layered structure of MoS2, resulting in a significant expansion of the MoS2 layer spacing (from 0.62 to 0.95 nm). The PEG effectively mitigates the agglomeration during MoS2 growth, promotes the 2H to 1T phase conversion in MoS2 (about 60