Transition metal dichalcogenides are attractive anode materials for sodium ion batteries (SIBs) due to their high theoretical capacity and large interlayer spacing. However, its practical application is hampered by the sluggish kinetics of Na⁺ insertion and structure collapse caused by Na⁺ insertion/deinsertion. Herein, the heterostructures of MoSe₂ nanosheets vertically growing on bowl-like carbon (MoSe₂@C) are designed and prepared by a template method coupled with selenization treatment to boost storage sodium performance. The hollow and collapse could provide enough storage space for Na⁺ and alleviate the volume expansion during the charge/discharge processes. MoSe₂ nanosheets vertically grown on carbon could expose more active sites for adsorbing Na⁺ to enhance the utilization rate of electrode materials. Moreover, building heterostructures by combining different phase components could facilitate Na⁺ diffusion and advance reaction kinetics. Benefiting from these merits, the bowl-like MoSe₂@C shows outstanding reversible capacity (356.8 mAh·g⁻¹ after 1500 cycles at 1 A·g⁻¹) and remarkable rate performance (249.9 mAh·g⁻¹ 10 A·g⁻¹).

Engineering the structure and composition of electrode materials is one of the essential means for achieving excellent electrochemical performance. The rational design of Na⁺ host materials is still a massive challenge for sodium ion batteries (SIBs). Herein, MoSe₂/TiO₂ heterostructure is integrated with N-doped carbon nanosheets to assemble into hierarchical flower-like porous core–shell microspheres (MoSe₂/TiO₂@N-C), which is firstly reported by room-temperature stirring coupled with vulcanization treatment. The cavity of the core–shell structure could provide enough storage space for Na⁺ and alleviate the volume expansion during charge/discharge processes. The apertures between nanosheets provide a guarantee for the rapid penetration of electrolyte to enhance the utilization rate of electrode materials. Furthermore, building heterostructures by combining different phase structures can facilitate electron transfer and accelerate reaction kinetics. Benefiting from the synergistic contributions of structure and composition, MoSe₂/TiO₂@N-C as SIBs anode material shows better reversible capacities of 302.5 mAh·g⁻¹ at 1 A·g⁻¹ for 400 cycles and 217.4 mAh·g⁻¹ at 4 A·g⁻¹ for 900 cycles. Strikingly, the reversible capacities can be restored entirely to the initial level after a high current density cycle.