Copper sulfides are broadly explored as the possible cathode materials for rechargeable magnesium batteries on account of their high theoretical capacity of 560 mAh g-1. However, the CuS cathodes usually suffer from serious capacity decay caused by structure collapse during the repeated magnesiation/demagnesiation process. Herein, we present a cuprous self-doping strategy to synthesize mesoporous CuS nanotubes with robust structural stability for rechargeable magnesium batteries and regulate their electrochemical magnesium storage behavior. Electrochemical results show that the mesoporous CuS nanotubes can exhibit high specific capacity, remarkable cycling performance, and good rate capability. The observed discharge capacity of the mesoporous CuS nanotubes could reach about 281.2 mAh g-1 at 20 mA g-1 and 168.9 mAh g-1 at 500 mA g-1. Furthermore, a remarkable ultralong-term cyclic stability with a reversible capacity of 72.5 mAh g-1 at 1 A g-1 is obtained after 550 cycles. These results demonstrate that the mesoporous nanotube structure and the simple cuprous self-doping effect could promote the practical application of copper sulfide cathode materials for rechargeable magnesium batteries.
Keywords: CuS nanotubes; cathode; electrochemical magnesium storage; rechargeable magnesium batteries; self-doping.