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Unlocking anionic redox activity in O3-type sodium 3d layered oxides via Li substitution

Nature Materials volume 20, pages 353–361 (2021)Cite this article

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Abstract

Sodium ion batteries, because of their sustainability attributes, could be an attractive alternative to Li-ion technology for specific applications. However, it remains challenging to design high energy density and moisture stable Na-based positive electrodes. Here, we report an O3-type NaLi1/3Mn2/3O2 phase showing anionic redox activity, obtained through a ceramic process by carefully adjusting synthesis conditions and stoichiometry. This phase shows a sustained reversible capacity of 190 mAh g−1 that is rooted in cumulative oxygen and manganese redox processes as deduced by combined spectroscopy techniques. Unlike many other anionic redox layered oxides so far reported, O3-NaLi1/3Mn2/3O2 electrodes do not show discernible voltage fade on cycling. This finding, rationalized by density functional theory, sheds light on the role of inter- versus intralayer 3d cationic migration in ruling voltage fade in anionic redox electrodes. Another practical asset of this material stems from its moisture stability, hence facilitating its handling and electrode processing. Overall, this work offers future directions towards designing highly performing sodium electrodes for advanced Na-ion batteries.

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Fig. 1: Structure of the water-washed pristine material.
Fig. 2: Electrochemical behaviour of NaLi1/3Mn2/3O2.
Fig. 3: Structural evolution in the first cycle.
Fig. 4: 6Li and 23Na MAS NMR spectroscopy results.
Fig. 5: Charge compensation mechanism in NaLi1/3Mn2/3O2.
Fig. 6: Voltage fade and cation migration in Li half cells.

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All relevant data are included in the article and its Supplementary Information.

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Acknowledgements

Q.W. thanks Renault S.A.S for PhD funding. J.-M.T. acknowledges the funding from European Research Council (ERC) (FP/2014)/ERC grant/project no. 670116-ARPEMA. A.M.A. and A.V.M. are grateful to Russian Science Foundation for the financial support (grant no. 20-43-01012). Access to the TEM facilities has been granted by Advance Imaging Core Facility of Skoltech. We thank the ROCK beamline at SOLEIL (Gif-sur-Yvette, France) for X-ray spectroscopy experiments (financed by the French National Research Agency (ANR) as a part of the ‘Investissements d’Avenir’ programme, reference ANR-10-EQPX-45; proposal nos. 20171234 and 20190596). HAXPES measurements were performed at GALAXIES beamline at the SOLEIL Synchrotron, France under proposal nos. 20171035 and 20190646. This work used resources of the Advanced Photon Source (11-BM), a US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under contract no. DE-AC02-06CH11357. NPD measurements were performed using the ECHIDNA instrument at ANSTO (Sydney, Australia). We are grateful to A. Iadecola for the help during XAS measurements. We thank S. Trabesinger, D. Giaume, M.F. Lagadec, W. Yin, A. Perez, B. Li, G. Yan, G. Assat and J. Vergnet for fruitful discussions. We acknowledge the staff of the MPBT (physical properties, low temperature) platform of Sorbonne Université for their support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chimie du Solide-Energie, UMR 8260, Collège de France, Paris, France

    Qing Wang, Sathiya Mariyappan, Gwenaëlle Rousse & Jean-Marie Tarascon

  2. Sorbonne Université, Paris, France

    Qing Wang, Gwenaëlle Rousse & Jean-Marie Tarascon

  3. Renault, Technocentre, Guyancourt, France

    Qing Wang & Mohamed Chakir

  4. Réseau sur le Stockage Electrochimique de l’Energie (RS2E), Amiens, France

    Sathiya Mariyappan, Gwenaëlle Rousse, Benjamin Porcheron, Rémi Dedryvère, Michaël Deschamps, Marie-Liesse Doublet & Jean-Marie Tarascon

  5. Skoltech Center for Energy Science and Technology, Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Moscow, Russia

    Anatolii V. Morozov & Artem M. Abakumov

  6. CNRS, CEMHTI UPR3079, Université d’Orléans, Orléans, France

    Benjamin Porcheron & Michaël Deschamps

  7. IPREM, E2S-UPPA, CNRS, Univ. Pau & Pays Adour, Pau, France

    Rémi Dedryvère

  8. Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Jinpeng Wu, Wanli Yang & Young-Sang Yu

  9. Electrochemistry Laboratory, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland

    Leiting Zhang

  10. School of Chemistry, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Maxim Avdeev

  11. Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Kirrawee DC, New South Wales, Australia

    Maxim Avdeev

  12. Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Jordi Cabana

  13. ICGM, University of Montpellier, CNRS, ENSCM, Montpellier, France

    Marie-Liesse Doublet

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  1. Qing Wang
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Contributions

Q.W., S.M. and J.-M.T. conceived the idea and designed the experiments. M.D. and B.P. performed NMR measurements. J.C./Y.-S.Y., R.D. and J.W./W.Y. performed and interpreted the XANES/extended X-ray absorption fine structure, HXAPES and mRIXS measurements. M.A. collected the NPD data, G.R. analysed and interpreted the SXRD and NPD patterns and performed the magnetic measurements while A.V.M. and A.M.A. collected and interpreted all the microscopy data. Last, L.Z. performed the OEMS measurements and M.C. supervised the project. M.-L.D. performed the theoretical calculations and contributed to the overall interpretation of the results. J.-M.T., A.M.A., S.M. and Q.W. wrote the paper, with contributions from all authors.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jean-Marie Tarascon.

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Competing interests

The O3-Na(Li1/3Mn2/3)O2 material is patented by Renault (inventors Q.W., M.C., S.M. and J.-M.T.) with patent application number B19-5233FR (pending).

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Peer review information Nature Materials thanks Naoaki Yabuuchi and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary Figs. 1–30, Notes 1 and 2, Tables 1–9 and references.

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Wang, Q., Mariyappan, S., Rousse, G. et al. Unlocking anionic redox activity in O3-type sodium 3d layered oxides via Li substitution. Nat. Mater. 20, 353–361 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-020-00870-8

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