Oxygen Defect Engineering toward Zero-Strain V2O2.8@Porous Reticular Carbon for Ultrastable Potassium Storage

Potassium-ion batteries (KIBs) are promising candidates for large-scale energy storage devices due to their high energy density and low cost. However, the large potassium-ion radius leads to its sluggish diffusion kinetics during intercalation into the lattice of the electrode material, resulting in electrode pulverization and poor cycle stability. Herein, vanadium trioxide anodes with different oxygen vacancy concentrations (V2O2.9, V2O2.8, and V2O2.7 determined by the neutron diffraction) are developed for KIBs. The V2O2.8 anode is optimal and exhibits excellent potassium storage performance due to the realization of expanded interlayer spacing and efficient ion/electron transport. In situ X-ray diffraction indicates that V2O2.8 is a zero-strain anode with a volumetric strain of 0.28% during the charge/discharge process. Density functional theory calculations show that the impacts of oxygen defects are embodied in reducing the band gap, increasing electron transfer ability, and lowering the diffusion energy barriers for potassium ions. As a result, the electrode of nanosized V2O2.8 embedded in porous reticular carbon (V2O2.8@PRC) delivers high reversible capacity (362 mAh g-1 at 0.05 A g-1), ultralong cycling stability (98.8% capacity retention after 3000 cycles at 2 A g-1), and superior pouch-type full-cell performance (221 mAh g-1 at 0.05 A g-1). This work presents an oxygen defect engineering strategy for ultrastable KIBs.

Toward High Power-High Energy Sodium Cathodes: A Case Study of Bicontinuous Ordered Network of 3D Porous Na3 (VO)2 (PO4 )2 F/rGO with Pseudocapacitance Effect

Developing high power-high energy electrochemical energy storage systems is an ultimate goal in the energy storage field, which is even more difficult but significant for low-cost sodium ion batteries. Here, fluoride is successfully prepared by the electrostatic spray deposition (ESD) technique, which greatly expands the application scope of ESD. A two-step strategy (solvothermal plus ESD method) is proposed to construct a bicontinuous ordered network of 3D porous Na₃ (VO)₂ (PO₄ )₂ F/reduced graphene oxide (NVOPF/rGO). This two-step strategy makes sure that NVOPF can be prepared by ESD, since it avoids the loss of F element during synthesis. The obtained NVOPF particles are as small as 15 nm, and the carbon content is only 3.5% in the final nanocomposite. Such a bicontinuous ordered network and small size of electroactive particles lead to the significant contribution of the pseudocapacitance effect to sodium storage, resulting in real high power-high energy sodium cathodes. The cathode exhibits excellent rate capability and cycling stability, whose rate performance is one of the best ever reported in both half cells and full cells. Moreover, this work provides a general and promising strategy for developing high power-high energy electrode materials for various electrochemical energy storage systems.

A General Strategy to Fabricate Carbon-Coated 3D Porous Interconnected Metal Sulfides: Case Study of SnS/C Nanocomposite for High-Performance Lithium and Sodium Ion Batteries

Transition metal sulfides have a great potential for energy storage due to the pronouncedly higher capacity (owing to conversion to metal or even alloy) than traditional insertion electrode materials. However, the poor cycling stability still limits the development and application in lithium and sodium ion batteries. Here, taking SnS as a model material, a novel general strategy is proposed to fabricate a 3D porous interconnected metal sulfide/carbon nanocomposite by the electrostatic spray deposition technique without adding any expensive carbonaceous materials such as graphene or carbon nanotube. In this way, small nanorods of SnS are generated with sizes of ≈10-20 nm embedded in amorphous carbon and self-assembled into a 3D porous interconnected nanocomposite. The SnS:C is directly deposited on the Ti foil as a current collector and neither conductive additives nor binder are needed for battery assembly. Such electrodes exhibit a high reversible capacity, high rate capability, and long cycling stability for both lithium and sodium storage.