MnS nanoparticles embedded uniformly in sulfur/nitrogen-doped porous carbon spheres enhancing lithium-storage performance.

[Display omitted] • Polymer microgel spheres are used as templates. • 3D Li+/e− conductive networks are formed in the MnS@S, N -PC composite. • Mesoporous carbon matrix alleviates the volume change of MnS nanoparticles. • Rich interfaces enable pseudocapacitance to contribute major to the total capacity. Rocksalt-type manganese sulfide (α-MnS) is a promising next generation anode material for lithium-ion batteries, but its practice application is severely impeded by slow conversion kinetics and large volume change. To overcome these drawbacks, α-MnS nanoparticles are uniformly embedded in sulfur/nitrogen-doped porous carbon (S, N -PC) spheres, which are fabricated by absorbing Mn2+ in poly(acrylamide- co -acrylic acid) (P(AM- co -AA)) microgel spheres, in-situ generating MnS@P(AM- co -AA) hybrid spheres, and carbonized at a high temperature. Synergetic effect of nanocrystallization, carbon encapsulation and porous structure endows the MnS@S, N -PC electrode with outstanding electrochemical properties. It can deliver an initial discharge capacity of 822 mAh/g at 0.1C rate in the voltage range of 0.01–3.0 V, accompanying with an initial coulombic efficiency of 82.5 %, and remains 420 mAh/g at 2C rate after 600 cycles. Owing to a large interfacial area between MnS nanoparticles and S, N -PC, pseudocapacitance contributes much more to total capacity during charging/discharging processes. The results suggest that the MnS@S, N -PC spheres can be promisingly developed into high-performance anode materials for lithium-ion batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]