Rational design of MoS2 nanoflowers-decorated carbon nanofibers with enhanced electronic transmission for boosting capacitive deionization.

Capacitive deionization (CDI) has sparked considerable interest for its promising application in handling brackish water. Unfortunately, most traditional carbonaceous materials are still plagued by the limited desalination capacity and sluggish adsorption kinetics with the single adsorption mechanism and irrational pore structure. Herein, we developed a facile and affordable strategy to integrate electrospinning with hydrothermal method to fabricate MoS 2 nanoflowers-decorated carbon nanofibers (MoS 2 /CNF) composite for boosting desalination performance. CNF not only serves as a supportive framework to inhibit the agglomeration of MoS 2 nanosheets favoring the full contact with salt solutions, but also typically diminishes the charge transfer resistance of the composite. By taking advantage of the double layer adsorption of CNF and the hierarchically micro-mesoporous structure of MoS 2 nanoflowers with large interlayer spacer for salt ions intercalation, the optimized sample MoS 2 /CNF-1 employed as a cathode for the asymmetric hybrid CDI cell showed an eminent capacity for desalination of 30.9 mg·g−1, an ultrafast rate for desalination of 3.7 mg·g−1·min−1, and an attractive circulation stability for desalination with the capacity reservation remaining at 94.8 % after 30 cycles in the solution of 500 mg·L−1 NaCl at 1.2 V. This research sheds fresh light on the evolution of advanced CDI electrode materials for practical utilization. [Display omitted] • Novel design of MoS 2 nanosheets/carbon nanofibers (MoS 2 /CNF) composite. • The large-interlayer-spacing of MoS 2 promotes the intercalation of salt ions. • MoS 2 /CNF composite displays an excellent desalination performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]