Phase engineering of H/T-Nb₂O₅ homojunction for enhanced lithium-ion storage

Abstract

Phase engineering has gained significant attention in energy-storage applications due to its ability to tailor the physicochemical properties and functionalities of electrode materials. In this study, we demonstrate the in-situ partial phase conversion of niobium pentoxide (Nb₂O₅), resulting in the formation of a monoclinic/orthorhombic (H/T-Nb₂O₅) heterophase homojunction. This study further confirms that the unique heterophase interface plays a crucial role in regulating the local electronic environment, resulting in charge redistribution, the formation of an internal electric field, and enhanced electron transfer. Moreover, the presence of abundant phase interfaces offers additional reactive sites for Li⁺ ion adsorption, thereby enhancing reaction dynamics. The synergistic effects within the H/T-Nb₂O₅ homojunction are reflected in its high Li⁺ storage capacity (413 mAh g⁻¹ at 100 mA g⁻¹), superior rate capability, and cycling stability. Thus, this study demonstrates that the construction of heterophase homojunctions offers a promising strategy for developing high-performance anode materials for efficient Li-ion storage.

Keywords

Phase engineering / Monoclinic/Rthorhombic / Nb₂O₅ homojunction / Kinetics analysis / Li-ion storage

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Sheng Li: Writing - original draft, Formal analysis, Data curation. Jun Li: Formal analysis, Data curation. Wenjie Zhang: Writing - review & editing, Formal analysis. Sherif A. El‐Khodary: Funding acquisition, Formal analysis. Yubo Luo: Supervision. Dickon H.L. Ng: Writing - review & editing. Xiaoshui Peng: Writing - review & editing. Jiabiao Lian: Writing - review & editing, Supervision, Funding acquisition, Conceptualization.

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (22250410272 and 21706103) and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20170549). D.H.L. Ng and X.S. Peng also express their gratitude for the Shenzhen Pengcheng Peacock Talent Scheme. J.B. Lian. extends sincere appreciation to the Jiangsu Provincial Program for High-Level Innovative and Entrepreneurial Talent Introduction.

Supplementary materials

Supplementary material associated with this article can be found, in the online version, at doi: 10.1016/j.chphma.2024.09.002.

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