Carve designs of MoS₂ nanostructures by controlling 3D MoS₂ nanomasks

The properties of nanomaterials are significantly altered by their topological structures. A new carved MoS₂ nanostructure has been produced by controlling an in situ grown three-dimensional MoS₂ nanomask which was reported recently. The carved molybdenum oxides inside MoS₂ nanomasks have been further reacted with sulfur by encapsulation through the open caps of MoS₂ nanotubes to become MoS₂ nanoflowers with each nanosheet consisting of 6-25 layers (mainly 6-12 layers). Extremely high electrochemical performances have been achieved from the carved MoS₂ nanostructures. A specific capacity of 1569 mA h g^-1 at a current rate of 100 mA g^-1 after the 176^th cycle has been obtained from the carved MoS₂ nanostructures. The specific capacities tend to be stable even after 200 cycles. The specific capacities of the carved MoS₂ nanostructures are more than twice those of commercially available MoS₂ powders and the reported well designed MoS₂ nanostructures, and even better than the reported MoS₂ composites with conductive carbon nanostructures.