Na + -Activation Engineering in the Na 3 V 2 (PO 4 ) 3 Cathode with Boosting Kinetics for Fast-Charging Na-Ion Batteries.
Xing ShenYuefeng SuNi YangXiaoping JiangXingxing LiuJunlin MoYan RanFeng WuPublished in: ACS applied materials & interfaces (2022)
Na superionic conductor-structured phosphates have attracted wide interest due to their high working voltage and fast Na + migration facilitated by the robust 3D open framework. However, they usually suffer from low-rate capability and inferior cycling stability due to the low intrinsic electronic conductivity and limited activated Na + ions. Herein, a doping protocol with Na + in the V 3+ site is developed to activate extra electrochemical Na + ions and expand the migration path of Na + , leading to the improvement of the electronic conductivity and diffusion kinetics. It is also disclosed that the generated stronger Na-O bonds with high ionicity significantly conduce to the enhanced structural stability in the Na + -substituted Na 3.05 V 1.975 Na 0.025 (PO 4 ) 3 /C cathode. The obtained composite can deliver an excellent rate capacity of 83.8 mA h g -1 at 20 C and a moderate cycling persistence of 91.3% over 1500 cycles at 10 C with great fast-charging properties. The reversible structure evolution is confirmed by the ex situ XRD, XPS, and ICP characterization. This work sheds light on awakening electroactive Na + ions and designing phosphates with superior electrochemical stability for practical Na-ion batteries.