Niobium tungsten oxides for high-rate lithium-ion energy storage

Abstract

The maximum power output and minimum charging time of a lithium-ion battery depend on both ionic and electronic transport. Ionic diffusion within the electrochemically active particles generally represents a fundamental limitation to the rate at which a battery can be charged and discharged. To compensate for the relatively slow solid-state ionic diffusion and to enable high power and rapid charging, the active particles are frequently reduced to nanometre dimensions, to the detriment of volumetric packing density, cost, stability and sustainability. As an alternative to nanoscaling, here we show that two complex niobium tungsten oxides-NbWO and NbWO, which adopt crystallographic shear and bronze-like structures, respectively-can intercalate large quantities of lithium at high rates, even when the sizes of the niobium tungsten oxide particles are of the order of micrometres. Measurements of lithium-ion diffusion coefficients in both structures reveal room-temperature values that are several orders of magnitude higher than those in typical electrode materials such as LiTiO and LiMnO. Multielectron redox, buffered volume expansion, topologically frustrated niobium/tungsten polyhedral arrangements and rapid solid-state lithium transport lead to extremely high volumetric capacities and rate performance. Unconventional materials and mechanisms that enable lithiation of micrometre-sized particles in minutes have implications for high-power applications, fast-charging devices, all-solid-state energy storage systems, electrode design and material discovery.

One‐Pot Synthesis of CuCo2S4 Sub‐Microspheres for High‐Performance Lithium‐/Sodium‐Ion Batteries

“…[50][51] The enhancement of cycling performance and rate capability performance of CuCo 2 S 4 for LIBs/SIBs benefits from the bimetallic synergistic effect and the sub-micro structure compared with the previously report (Table S1). [53] On the other hand, CuCo 2 S 4 submicrospheres could improve the stability of electrode materials by avoiding the aggregation. [48,52] Fabrication of sub-micron scale CuCo 2 S 4 is an appealing approach to improve the electrochemistry performance for both LIBs and SIBs.…”

Niobium‐Based Oxides Toward Advanced Electrochemical Energy Storage: Recent Advances and Challenges

“…In addition, recently, Grey et al have made a breakthrough for the LIBs application of the micrometer‐sized Nb‐based oxide systems . Based on the structural merit of Nb 2 O 5 and lithium lanthanum titanate perovskite, they have prepared two complex niobium tungsten oxides (Nb 16 W 5 O 55 and Nb 18 W 16 O 93 ), which showed the outstanding electrochemical performances even the active materials are in the order of micrometers ( Figure ) . The Li‐ion diffusion coefficients of Nb 16 W 5 O 55 and Nb 18 W 16 O 93 are much higher (several orders of magnitude) than the typical Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 and LiMn 2 O 4 electrodes.…”

“…Note that the mass loading of the Nb–W oxides is 2.6 mg cm −2 , and the other Ti/Nb‐based materials are about 1 mg cm −2 . All panels reproduced with permission . Copyright 2018, Springer Nature Limited.…”

“…Laptops, mobile phones and numerous microelectronic devices could not survive without LIBs. As the continuous innovation of electronic products and the improvement of user experience in them, the current commercial LIBs cannot satisfy the pressing demand for superior batteries with faster rate, larger capacity, better safety, and longer service life . In addition, owing to the low‐cost price and the abundance of sodium sources compared with lithium, sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs) are raising more attention, especially for large‐scale energy storage …”

“…Recently, Duan et al have designed a novel Nb 2 O 5 ‐based anode for ultrafast Li‐ion storage application at the commercial levels of mass loading (>10 mg cm −2 ) . Moreover, Grey et al have proven that Nb 16 W 5 O 55 and Nb 18 W 16 O 93 could exhibit excellent rate performance even when the sizes of active materials were micrometer scale . More and more research results indicate that niobium‐based oxides have great advantages in working as the superior anodes for various energy storage systems …”