Interlayer Expansion of Bulk MoS <sub>2</sub> via Top‐Down Organic Pillaring Enables Tunable Li <sup>+</sup> Intercalation and Controlled Solvent Co‐Intercalation

ABSTRACT Interlayer engineering is widely used to improve charge storage in layered transition metal dichalcogenides, yet most studies rely on nanosized materials where the effects of interlayer expansion and particle downsizing are intertwined. Here, molecular pillaring is translated to bulk molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) using a top‐down strategy. Chemical pre‐reduction with butyllithium enables exfoliation and restacking in the presence of hexanediammonium (HDA) molecules, forming a pillared MoS 2 ‐HDA structure with an expanded interlayer spacing of 0.98 nm while preserving the bulk particle morphology and specific surface area. Electrochemical analysis reveals that improved rate capability primarily originates from the chemical activation associated with the pre‐reduction step rather than from interlayer expansion itself. Operando X‐ray diffraction and electrochemical dilatometry show that bulk MoS 2 undergoes solvent co‐intercalation in diglyme electrolyte, leading to pronounced lattice expansion and electrode swelling. In contrast, pillared MoS 2 ‐HDA suppresses solvent co‐intercalation despite its larger interlayer spacing, demonstrating that interlayer expansion alone does not dictate solvent co‐intercalation in layered electrodes.

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Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Functional Materials
Published
2026-06-16
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.76503
Primary Topic
2D Materials and Applications
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Interlayer Expansion of Bulk MoS 2 via Top‐Down Organic Pillaring Enables Tunable Li + Intercalation and Controlled Solvent Co‐Intercalation

Franz Jacobi, Jaehoon Choi, Simon Fleischmann, Desirée Leistenschneider et al.
Advanced Functional Materials
2D Materials and Applications
article

Interlayer Expansion of Bulk MoS 2 via Top‐Down Organic Pillaring Enables Tunable Li + Intercalation and Controlled Solvent Co‐Intercalation

Franz Jacobi, Jaehoon Choi, Simon Fleischmann, Desirée Leistenschneider, Pakornrum Tulaphon, Jameela Karol, Kyeonghyeon Nam, Christoph Scheurer, Mete B. Durukan
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Interlayer engineering is widely used to improve charge storage in layered transition metal dichalcogenides, yet most studies rely on nanosized materials where the effects of interlayer expansion and particle downsizing are intertwined. Here, molecular pillaring is translated to bulk molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) using a top‐down strategy. Chemical pre‐reduction with butyllithium enables exfoliation and restacking in the presence of hexanediammonium (HDA) molecules, forming a pillared MoS 2 ‐HDA structure with an expanded interlayer spacing of 0.98 nm while preserving the bulk particle morphology and specific surface area. Electrochemical analysis reveals that improved rate capability primarily originates from the chemical activation associated with the pre‐reduction step rather than from interlayer expansion itself. Operando X‐ray diffraction and electrochemical dilatometry show that bulk MoS 2 undergoes solvent co‐intercalation in diglyme electrolyte, leading to pronounced lattice expansion and electrode swelling. In contrast, pillared MoS 2 ‐HDA suppresses solvent co‐intercalation despite its larger interlayer spacing, demonstrating that interlayer expansion alone does not dictate solvent co‐intercalation in layered electrodes.

Advanced Functional Materials
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (DE), Forschungszentrum Jülich (DE), Universität Ulm (DE), Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society (DE), Helmholtz-Institute Ulm (DE), Technische Hochschule Ulm (DE), Friedrich Schiller University Jena (DE)
Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung, Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung, Helmholtz Association
Openalex Percentile: Top 14%
2D Materials and Applications
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