Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) may be a promising alternative for lithium ion batteries (LIBs) because it offers unique layered crystal structure with large and tunable distance between layers, which enables the anticipated excellent rate and cycling stability for the fact that they can promote the reversible lithium ion intercalation and de-intercalation without huge volume change and consequently prevents the pulverization of active materials during the repeated charge and discharge processes. Herein, we prepared hierarchical MoS2-carbon (MoS2-C) microspheres via continuous and scalable ultrasonic nebulization assisted route. The structure, composition, electrochemical properties are investigated in detail. The MoS2-C microspheres consist of MoS2 nanosheets with a few layers bridged by carbon, which separates the exfoliated MoS2 layers and prevents their aggregation and restacking and thus leading to improved kinetic, enhanced conductivity and structural integrity. The novel architecture offers additional merits such as overall large size, high packing density, which promote their practical applications. The MoS2-C microspheres have been demonstrated with excellent electrochemical performances in terms of low resistance, high capacity even at large current density, stable cycling performances, etc. The electrodes exhibited 800 mAh g–1 at 1000 mA g–1 over 170 cycles. At higher current density of 3200 mA g–1, a capacity of 730 mAh g–1 can be also maintained. The MoS2-C microspheres are practically applicable not only because of the continuous and large scale synthesis via current strategy, but also the robust and integrated architecture which ensure the excellent electrochemical properties. J. Mater. Chem. A, 2016 |