This disclosure relates generally to inducing crystallization of amorphous nanomaterials through electrochemical cycling. More particularly, this disclosure relates to systems and methods for creating unconventional high-performance metal oxide electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries.
Increasing global energy demand has intensified the pursuit of high-performance, cost-effective, and sustainable energy storage technologies. While rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are the current market leader, innovative battery materials created with novel processing techniques are needed to reach new performance benchmarks. Niobium oxides are promising negative electrode materials for rechargeable LIBs due to their rich redox chemistry (Nb5+ to Nb1+), chemical stability, and numerous meta-stable and stable polymorphs. The higher intercalation potential of Nb2O5 (˜1.7 V vs. Li/Li+) relative to commercial graphite electrodes (<0.3 V) makes it less susceptible to Li plating and electrolyte decomposition, and therefore, safer. However, sluggish Li+ diffusion, poor electrical conductivity (˜3×10-6 S cm−1), and low capacity have hindered the deployment of Nb2O5 electrodes. To address these issues, work has focused on increasing charge storage and transport properties by developing nanoarchitectures, and/or adding conductive materials (e.g., graphene and carbon-coatings).
Another strategy to improve the performance of Nb2O5 electrodes is to optimize the crystal structure for lithium-ion intercalation. There are at least 12 different polymorphs of Nb2O5. Polymorphs of Nb2O5 previously studied as LIB negative electrodes include pseudohexagonal (TT-Nb2O5), orthorhombic (T-Nb2O5), and monoclinic (B, M, and H—Nb2O5). The average capacity of the most studied T-Nb2O5 electrodes is around 170 mAh g−1, while a higher capacity of 227 mAh g−1 has been reported for a monoclinic structure, which is beyond the theoretical capacity of 202 mAh g−1 based on Li2Nb2O5, i.e., one electron redox per Nb.
Currently, strategies for the synthesis of new intercalation metal oxide electrode materials include traditional ceramic processing by solid-state reactions, hydro(solvo) thermal processing, and ionothermal processing. However, metastable structures with unique properties cannot be easily obtained through such approaches. Recent works on other transition metal oxides have suggested that electrochemical cycling may present a new synthetic avenue to obtain novel structures and frameworks.
The first demonstration of this phenomenon in transition metal oxide negative electrodes was with titanium dioxide nanotubes (TiO2NT), wherein amorphous TiO2NT underwent spontaneous phase transformation into a long-range ordered/short-range disordered cubic structure when cycled with Lit Studies showed when Li+ reached a high concentration, atomic rearrangements were initiated within the material to minimize the energy, resulting in a cubic structure. Recently, a disordered rock-salt (DRX) Li3+xV2O5 electrode obtained through electrochemically lithiating V2O5 to 1.5 V exhibited exceptional rate capability for fast-charging LIBs. Furthermore, it was also shown in a manganese oxide system that a tunnel-structured todorokite, which is common in nature but difficult to synthesize in the laboratory at room temperature, can be obtained through repeated electrochemical cycling from a layered MnO2.
Other drawbacks, inefficiencies, inconveniences, and issues also exist with current systems and methods.
Accordingly, the disclosed embodiments address the above, and other, drawbacks, inefficiencies, inconveniences, and issues that exist with current systems and methods.
Disclosed embodiments include an electrochemically-driven amorphous-to-crystalline (a-to-c) transformation of nanostructured Nb2O5 upon cycling with Li+, and demonstrate the insertion of three lithium into Nb2O5 (˜1.5 electron redox per Nb). Amorphous Nb2O5 (a-Nb2O5) transformed spontaneously to a rock-salt structure (RS—Nb2O5) when the electrode was cycled to a potential of 0.5 V vs. Li/Li+, as identified by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and synchrotron X-ray diffraction (sXRD). Density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed that RS—Nb2O5 exhibits exceptionally high capacity for Li+ ions and low migration barriers for Li+ diffusion. Results from X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) indicated that the high capacity of RS—Nb2O5 was associated with its ability to go beyond the Nb5+/Nb4+ redox. In addition, the RS structure benefited from an increase in Li+ diffusivity and electrical conductivity compared to its amorphous counterpart, as shown by galvanostatic intermittent titration technique (GITT), peak force tunneling atomic force microscopy (PF-TUNA), and two-point probe conductivity measurement, which correlated closely with its rate performance. Electrochemically induced crystallization of nanomaterials therefore offers an innovative approach for the discovery of high energy/power and stable electrode materials that were previously inaccessible using conventional synthesis methods.
Disclosed embodiments include a new rock-salt Nb2O5 electrode material produced through an electrochemically-driven crystallization of an amorphous nanochanneled Nb2O5. The RS—Nb2O5 exhibits multi-electron redox per Nb for Li-ion storage. DFT calculations reveal significant low-energy lithium migration paths that lead to the exceptional electrochemical performance of the RS—Nb2O5. The cubic structure affords a material with high rate performance due to increased Li-ion diffusivity and electrical conductivity. In parallel, the new crystal displays high stability owing to the structural integrity upon lithiation/delithiation. The self-organization of atoms into the optimal crystalline structure during electrochemical cycling suggests a new synthetic avenue to access rare metal oxide structures with unique properties. The utilization of electrochemical cycling to form novel crystalline structures can be advantageous in designing other enhanced electrode materials.
Disclosed embodiments include a rock-salt structure formed from an electrochemically-driven amorphous-to-crystalline (a-to-c) transformation of nanostructured Nb2O5 the rock-salt structure including, upon cycling with lithium ions (Li+), an insertion of lithium ions (Li+) into Nb2O5 to form the rock-salt structure (RS—Nb2O5).
In some embodiments the electrochemically-driven amorphous-to-crystalline (a-to-c) transformation of nanostructured Nb2O5 is performed by cycling a potential between 3.0 V-0.5 V.
In some embodiments the insertion of lithium ions (Li+) into Nb2O5 further comprises the insertion of three lithium ions (Li+).
In some embodiments the rock-salt structure (RS—Nb2O5) further comprises a cubic rock-salt phase with the space group of Fm3m.
In some embodiments a lattice parameter a of the cubic rock-salt phase structure is substantially 4.146(7) Å. In some embodiments the cubic rock-salt phase has a crystallite size of substantially 10 nm.
Disclosed embodiments also include an electrode material including a rock-salt transition metal oxide formed from an electrochemically-driven amorphous-to-crystalline (a-to-c) transformation of nanostructured transition metal oxide.
In some embodiments the transition metal oxide is niobium pentoxide (Nb2O5) and the rock-salt transition metal oxide is rock-salt niobium pentoxide (RS—Nb2O5) and includes multi-electron redox per Nb for Li-ion (Li+) storage. In some embodiments the multi-electron redox per Nb for Li-ion (Li+) storage further comprises three lithium ions (Li+) per Nb.
In some embodiments the rock-salt niobium pentoxide (RS—Nb2O5) further comprises a cubic rock-salt phase with the space group of Fm3m.
In some embodiment the transition metal oxide is tantalum pentoxide (Ta2O5) and the rock-salt transition metal oxide is rock-salt tantalum pentoxide (RS—Ta2O5).
In some embodiments the rock-salt tantalum pentoxide (RS—Ta2O5) further comprises a cubic rock-salt phase with the space group of Fm3m.
In some embodiments the transition metal oxide comprises an oxide of a group IVB or group VB transition metal.
In some embodiments the transition metal oxide has an energy difference between the rock-salt structure and the ground state structure of less than 110 meV/atom.
Also disclosed is a method of forming a rock-salt niobium pentoxide (RS—Nb2O5) structure, the method including forming a nanochanneled niobium oxide (NCNO) structure by electropolishing of niobium (Nb) metal, electrochemically anodizing the electropolished Nb metal to form amorphous nanostructured Nb2O5, and performing an amorphous-to-crystalline (a-to-c) transformation of amorphous nanostructured Nb2O5 by cycling with lithium ions (Li+) to form rock-salt niobium pentoxide (RS—Nb2O5).
In some embodiments forming a nanochanneled niobium oxide (NCNO) structure by electropolishing of niobium (Nb) metal further includes sequentially sonicating the niobium (Nb) metal in acetone, isopropanol, and deionized water, and electropolishing in sulfuric acid in methanol solution.
In some embodiments electrochemically anodizing the electropolished Nb metal to form amorphous nanostructured Nb2O5 further includes electrochemical anodization using a K2HPO4 in glycerol solution and anodizing at a voltage of substantially 25 V. As those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure would understand, 25 V is not the only voltage that can be used. Different voltages, different oxide thickness, and size of nanopores may be implemented. In some embodiments, voltages of 20-40V and oxide thicknesses of a few microns to tens of microns may be used.
In some embodiments the performance of the amorphous-to-crystalline (a-to-c) transformation of amorphous nanostructured Nb2O5 by cycling with lithium ions (Li+) to form rock-salt niobium pentoxide (RS—Nb2O5) further comprises cycling at a potential between 3.0 V-0.5 V.
Other advantages, features, and embodiments also exist.
While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail herein. However, it should be understood that the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Characterization of As-Prepared Nanochanneled Nb2O5
The as-prepared samples consisted of vertically oriented nanochanneled niobium oxide (NCNO) electrically connected to a Nb current collector (
a-to-c Transformation of NCNO Via Electrochemical Cycling
The as-prepared NCNO samples were subjected to electrochemical cycling between 3 V and 0.5 V vs. Li/Li+, and the voltage profiles and corresponding differential capacity (dQ/dV) plots for the electrode are shown in
The voltage profile of the initial discharge is characterized by a shallow, linear slope, which upon subsequent cycling develops a plateau-like feature centered around 1.67 V (
The corresponding differential capacity analysis is shown in
Structural Characterization of a-to-c Nb2O5 Electrode
TEM, grazing incidence sXRD, and ex situ extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) were conducted to elucidate the new rock-salt phase of Nb2O5 (
In particular,
In
This shows that the electrode remained crystalline, with no evidence of large amorphous regions or intermediates. Furthermore, grazing incidence sXRD of the delithiated sample (
Determination of the Structure of the Charged (Delithiated) Sample
To exclude the possibility that the charged (delithiated) electrode is the rock-salt lithium niobate (Li3NbO4) other than the niobium oxide, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) as well as secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) depth profiling were conducted. The composition of the charged electrode is Li0.57Nb2O5 as measured by ICP-MS. The small Li content compared to Nb is attributed to the residues from the solid electrolyte interphase and electrolyte after cleaning due to the difficulty to remove surface species within the nanochannels of the sample. As shown in
To exclude the possibility that the charged (delithiated) electrode could be the rock-salt lithium niobate (Li3NbO4), additional results were obtained from secondary ion mass spectrometry depth profile (
Ex situ EXAFS analysis was utilized to examine the local structural evolution of Nb during the first discharge (lithiation) (
In the pristine sample, two broad peaks near 1.6 Å and 2.5 Å were assigned to Nb—O and Nb—Nb bond, respectively. The amorphous material contains distorted NbO6, NbO7, and NbO8, causing large variation in the Nb—O and Nb—Nb distances. Discharging to lower voltages led to narrowing of the Nb—O peak, accompanied by intensity increase in the Nb—Nb peak as shown in Table I below. This implies the a-to-c transformation. The a-to-c transformation would require ordering of the distorted polyhedra, leading to converging radial distances, and higher intensity from the coordinated Nb—O and Nb—Nb shell.
Multielectron Redox of the RS—Nb2O5 Electrode
Ex situ Nb K-edge X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) and XPS were carried out to evaluate the valence state of Nb in the sample at various states of discharge (
As shown in
Ex situ Nb 3d core level XPS spectra (
The voltage profile for lithium intercalation into RS—Nb2O5 was simulated using density functional theory (DFT). The pseudo-binary RS—Nb2O5—Li3Nb2O5 phase diagram constructed from these calculations is shown in
High Rate Performance and Cycling Stability
The rate capability of RS— and a-Nb2O5 electrodes at different current rates of 20, 50, 100, 200, and 1000 mA g−1 is shown in
The RS—Nb2O5 electrode exhibited a high reversible capacity of 269 mAh g−1 at a current density of 20 mA g−1, corresponding to ˜1.42 electron redox per Nb. The high capacity of RS—Nb2O5 is among the best of reported Nb2O5 and niobate electrodes (see
Additionally, we observed a <10% drop in capacity at an increased current rate of 200 mA g−1 (243 mAh g−1), while at a current rate of 1000 mA g−1 the electrode capacity was slightly lower at 191 mAh g−1. In comparison, a-Nb2O5 electrode at the rate of 1000 mA g−1 showed a considerably lower capacity (73 mAh g−1). The a-Nb2O5 electrode retained only 43% of its low-rate capacity, while the RS—Nb2O5 was able to retain over 70% of its low-rate capacity when discharging/charging within 12 min. When the current rate was subsequently returned to 20 mA g−1, the capacity of the RS—Nb2O5 electrode returned to 267 mAh g−1, suggesting its great reversibility and rate capability. These results are further elaborated in
The cycle life of the RS—Nb2O5 and a-Nb2O5 electrodes at a current rate of 200 mA g−1 is shown in
Charge Storage and Transport Kinetics of RS—Nb2O5
To elucidate the lithium migration mechanisms in Li3Nb2O5, the kinetically resolved activation barriers for 38 Li hopping paths, sampled from 6 representative low energy configurations to account for the possible effect of the local environments, were calculated. In contrast to the DRX lithium transition metal oxide cathodes, it was found that a direct octahedral-octahedral (o-o) hop is preferred compared to an octahedral-tetrahedral-octahedral (o-t-o) hop (see
The local environment along the o-o hop can be characterized by x-Li, where 0≤x≤4 is the number of Li ions occupying the neighboring edge-sharing octahedral sites of a migration path (see
While the migration barriers for 2 or fewer Li in neighboring octahedra are >750 meV, the 4-Li and 3-Li pathways have barriers below 350 meV, which are significantly lower than the 420-520 meV observed for lithium migration in graphite. This observation is similar to what has been reported for DRX cathodes, where a larger number of transition metals adjacent to intermediate tetrahedral site also leads to higher barriers. Assuming a completely random arrangement of Li and Nb, it is expected that 4-Li and 3-Li hops would form ˜47% (0.64+4C3 0.63 0.4) of migration pathways in Li3Nb2O5, creating a percolating network of low-barrier pathways for fast Li diffusion.
Charge Transport Kinetics of RS—Nb2O5
To comprehensively investigate the charge storage and transport kinetics of RS—Nb2O5, kinetic analyses through GITT and CV with varying scan rates were conducted. These studies provide further evidence of the enhanced kinetics of the new cubic phase compared to its amorphous counterpart through improved ion mobility. These exceptional properties of RS—Nb2O5 facilitate high power performance.
GITT measurements and the corresponding logarithmic plot of Li+ diffusivity as a function of voltage are shown in
The charge storage kinetics in RS—Nb2O5 and a-Nb2O5 sample were evaluated by cyclic voltammetry at varying scan rates (
Electrical Properties of RS—Nb2O5
Intercalation electrode materials are mixed ionic and electronic conductors. The electrical conductivity of the materials has a significant impact on their power performance. Therefore, the electrical conductivity of RS—Nb2O5 was evaluated through Mott-Schottky (M-S) analysis, 2-point probe conductivity measurement as well as PF-TUNA for comparison to a-Nb2O5 (see
9.47 × 10−10
Mott-Schottky (M analysis (see
Besides the M-S measurements, a two-point probe measurement (see
PF-TUNA imaging was conducted on cycled a-Nb2O5 and RS—Nb2O5 samples (
Rock Salt Formation of Various Ceramic Materials
Previously, some of the present inventors have discovered an a-to-c transformation in TiO2 nanotube electrode during electrochemical lithiation. The structure of the crystalline TiO2 was resolved through Rietveld refinement as a rock-salt phase (Fm3m) instead of the initial assignment of a spinel phase (Fd3m) (see
The RS—TiO2 exhibited superior rate performance (see
The energy difference between the rock-salt structure and the ground state structure for other transition metal oxides was evaluated (
Methods
Electropolishing of Nb Metal
The nanochanneled niobium oxide (NCNO) samples were prepared as follows. In short, Nb foil of 127 μm thickness (35×40 mm2, Alfa Aesar, 99.8% annealed) was cut, sonicated sequentially in acetone, isopropanol, and deionized water for 5 minutes each, and electropolished in 2M sulfuric acid (Fisher Scientific, 95-98%) in methanol (Fisher Scientific, 99.9%) solution. Electropolishing was conducted at 15 V with a Pt mesh counter electrode at −70° C. for 2 hours.
Nanochannel Nb2O5 Synthesis
NCNOs were prepared by electrochemical anodization of Nb metal using a 10 wt % K2HPO4 in glycerol solution at 180° C., the Nb film was anodized at 25 V from 5 minutes up to 15 minutes. The as-anodized samples were then ultrasonically cleaned in DI water for 2 minutes. NCNO samples were then placed under vacuum and dried overnight at 110° C. The NCNO electrode contains a high density of channels (4×1014 pores m−2), resulting in a surface area of 60-80 m2 g−1 (via SEM image analysis). This agrees with results from anodized aluminum oxides with similar pore structures.
TiO2 Nanotube Synthesis
Ti foil (Alfa Aesar, 32 μm thick) was cut into 4×4.5 cm pieces and sonicated in acetone, isopropanol, and DI water for 5 minutes each. The prepared foil was then anodized in a solution of 0.27 M NH4F in formamide (Fisher Scientific), with Pt mesh as the counter electrode, for 30 minutes at 15 V. The as-anodized samples were then ultrasonically cleaned in nanopure water. Samples were dried overnight in a vacuum oven at 110° C.
Structural Characterizations
Grazing incidence synchrotron X-ray diffraction (sXRD) measurements were conducted at Sector 12-ID-D, Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory. The X-ray wavelengths of both λ=0.684994 Å and 0.61990 Å were used in this study. For varying the structural probing depths, a series of incidence angles (α) from 0° up to 1° were adopted in the grazing incidence sXRD measurements. In order to minimize the scattering contribution from the bulk Nb foil substrate, we placed the sample on top of a convex shaped Teflon support for the measurements where the tail of the incident X-ray beam sweeps through the surface layer of the electrode samples. Additional in-house XRD measurements were taken with a Rigaku Miniflex diffractometer with Cu Kα irradiation at λ=1.5406 Å. XPS samples were loaded without air exposure through an Ar glove box connected directly to the UHV system. XPS measurements were performed using a Specs PHOIBOS 150 hemispherical energy analyzer with a monochromated Al Kα X-ray source. Survey and core level spectra were collected using a pass energy of 40 and 20 eV, respectively, and all spectra were referenced to the binding energy of sp3-hybridized carbon at 284.8 eV. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) at beamline 12-BM-B in Argonne National Laboratory was used to determine the chemical environment of the materials. Samples for XAS were prepared with free-standing NCNO films peeled off from an Nb substrate. The films were placed onto a copper current collector and cycled in a Li half-cell. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images were taken with a FEI Teneo field emission SEM. SEM images were analyzed using the National Institutes of Health ImageJ V1.8 to determine pore size, size distribution, and surface area of the oxides. TEM, HRTEM, and SAED characterization of the samples were completed on a JEOL JEM-2100 at an acceleration voltage of 200 kV. TEM characterization were also completed on a JEOL JEM2100F microscope with a working voltage of 200 kV. A Zeiss NVision 40 was employed to prepared a TEM specimen (RS—Nb2O5 electrode after 100 cycles). By following the standard FIB lift-out procedure, the lamella was transferred to a TEM grid. A 30 kV Ga beam was employed for general milling. The final lamella was showered by a 5 kV Ga beam to reduce the ion beam damage from the 30 kV Ga beam.
Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was conducted on a Thermo Fisher iCAP RQ ICP-MS coupled to a Teledyne Analyte Excite+ 193 nm laser ablation (LA) system. Each sample measurement is an average of three replicate analyses, consisting of a gas blank subtracted ablation peak, both of which are the average of 100 sweeps over 5 secs. Elemental concentrations are standardized against standard glasses (GSD and GSE*), except P, Ge and Se, which were standardized against sequential dilutions of single element ICPMS standards. Concentrations are reported in the form of grams of analyte per gram sample×100 (wt %) assuming a sample volume for samples and standards. No detection (ND) indicates samples which had reading below the limit of detection, which is defined as 3X the background measured before each ablation pass. GSE measured at the largest possible spot size to compare accuracy at count rates comparable to that of the unknowns. Accepted values are from GeoREM preferred values (mean of new analyses).
ToF-SIMS measurement was performed at Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), which is located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. A TOF.SIMS5 instrument (IONTOF GmbH, Münster, Germany) was used. Dual beam depth profiling was used. A 2.0 keV Cs+ beam was used as the sputtering beam and a 25 keV Bi+ beam used as the analysis beam for signal collection. The Cs+ sputtering beam (˜65 nA) was scanned over a 200*200 μm2 area, and the equivalent sputter rate (SiO2 as a reference) was about 0.75 nm/s. The Bi+ beam was focused to be about 5 μm diameter with a beam current was about 0.70 pA with a 10 kHz frequency. The Bi+ beam was scanned over an area of 70*70 μm2 at the Cs+ sputter crater center. A low energy (10 eV) electron flood gun was used for charge compensation in all measurement.
Electrochemical Characterizations
Working electrodes were cut into 15 mm diameter disks using a disk cutter EQ-T06-Disc (MTI, Co). All batteries were prepared in an argon-filled glove box (MBraun) where oxygen levels were maintained below 0.5 ppm. Electrodes removed from cells for analysis were thoroughly washed with dry dimethyl carbonate (Aldrich) and allowed to dry under the inert atmosphere. Li half-cells were assembled in coin-type cells (Hohsen 2032) with Li metal foil (FMC) as the counter electrode, microporous polyolefin separators (Celgard 2325), and 1.2 M LiPF6 in ethylene carbonate/ethyl methyl carbonate (3:7 weight ratio) electrolyte (Gen II, Tomiyama). Half-cells were cycled galvanostatically between 3 and 0.5 V vs Li/Li′ using an automated Maccor battery tester at 25° C. Four cells were electrochemically tested to confirm reproducibility (see
Mass of the Nb2O5 films was determined by dissolution of the oxide film in 1% HF in concentrated HCl solution and measuring the weight difference of the samples before and after etching. This solution allows selective etching of Nb2O5 over Nb. The remaining substrate was examined by SEM and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) at 5 kV using an FEI Teneo FE-SEM to ensure that no residual Nb2O5 was left on the substrate. The mass loading of the electrodes was determined to be ˜1.06±0.25 mg cm′.
Two-point Probe Measurements, Mott-Schottky Analysis, and PF-TUNA Measurements
Two-point electrical conductivity measurements and PeakForce tunneling atomic force microscopy (PF-TUNA) were used to determine the out-of-plane (i.e., through sample) conductivity of NCNO. For the two-point probe measurements, a silver paint contact was placed on the surface of the oxide film with another point of contact to the Nb foil. The contacts were then connected to the measurement device setup with Au wires. A current ranging from 0.2-20 μA was applied by a Keithley 237 High Voltage Source Measurement Unit and the resulting voltage was recorded by a Keithley 2000 Multimeter.
Mott-Schottky analysis was performed using the SPEIS program on a Bio-Logic VMP-240 in a three-electrode cell (EL-Cell®). Kapton tape was utilized as a mask leaving a disk electrode of 12.7 mm diameter for niobium oxide sample. A Pt mesh counter electrode and an Ag/AgCl reference electrode were used in an aqueous 1 M NaOH solution for Nb2O5 samples or 1 M KOH for TiO2 samples. The charge carrier concentration of the samples was determined by the space charge capacitance (Csc)52 obtained from the imaginary part of the impedance Z″:
where f is the frequency. Bode plots in the frequency range of 100 mHz-100 kHz with a voltage amplitude of 10 mV from 0.1 to −1 V vs. Ag/AgCl in 0.05 V increments were collected to determine the frequency at which |Z| is constant for all samples and is suitable for Mott-Schottky analysis as seen in
The |Z| plateaus at a frequency of about 1 kHz; therefore, the curves at 1.486 kHz were used to calculate the charge carrier density for each sample. The flat-band potential can also be obtained from the Mott-Schottky plots by finding the x-intercept of the tangent line to the linear region of each curve. The following equation relates the charge carrier density to the capacitance of the sample, where q is the charge of an electron, ε is the dielectric constant (assumed to be a constant value of 42), ε0 is the vacuum permittivity constant, ND is the charge carrier density, A is the geometric surface area, Vfb is the flat-band potential, V is the applied potential, k is Boltzmann's constant, and T is the absolute temperature in Kelvin.
Eqn 2 is then differentiated with respect to the voltage to obtain the charge carrier density as shown below.
Ex situ PF-TUNA was performed using a Bruker Dimension Icon atomic force microscope (AFM) in an Ar-filled MBraun glovebox with <0.1 ppm water and oxygen. PF-TUNA provides spatially resolved nanoscale through-sample conductivity maps of resistive materials in response to an applied bias. A Bruker DDESP conductive diamond tip probe (100 nm nominal radius of curvature tip composed of 0.01-0.025 Ω∩cm antimony (n)-doped Si) with a setpoint force of 70 nN was used to simultaneously image the electrode topography and conductivity. The electrodes were placed directly onto the metallic vacuum chuck, and a bias voltage of −10 V was applied to the chuck (i.e., bottom surface of the electrode). 20×20 μm2 images with 1024×1024 pixels were obtained to yield ˜20 nm lateral resolution maps at a TUNA gain sensitivity of 20 pA/V (±10 V full scale, corresponding to ±200 pA sensitivity). Images were processed and analyzed in Nanoscope Analysis version 1.90. A first order plane fit was applied to the raw topographical data to account for sample tip and tilt, with an additional first-order flatten applied to correct for small line-to-line offsets in the Z piezo. A conductivity skin was then overlaid on the 3D topography image to visualize variations in current density via color contrast.
DFT Calculations
All DFT calculations were carried out using the Vienna ab initio simulation package (VASP) within the projector augmented wave approach. The Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) generalized gradient approximation (GGA) was adopted for the exchange-correlation functional. The kinetic energy cutoff was set to 520 eV and a k-point density of at least 1000 per reciprocal atom was used for structural relaxations of Nb2O5. The electronic energy and atomic forces were converged to within 10−5 eV and 0.02 eV/Å, respectively, in line with the settings in the Materials Project database.
Structure Enumeration
First, we enumerated and calculated the energies of all orderings in a √{square root over (5)}×√{square root over (5)}×2 supercell of cubic rock-salt Li3Nb2O5. The Li and Nb occupancy of the octahedral sites (Wyckoff symbol: 4b) was set at x Li: 0.4 Nb, where x ranges from 0 to 0.6 at the interval of 0.1. 0.6 and 0.4, respectively, at the octahedral interstitial sites in a fcc oxygen lattice. Lithium was then removed in 0.5 increments from Li3Nb2O5 and the symmetrically distinct orderings were then calculated for each composition. All symmetrically distinct orderings were generated with an enumeration algorithm interfaced with the Python Materials Geomics (pymatgen) library. These orderings were then fully relaxed using DFT calculations and the lowest energy configurations were used for subsequent analysis.
Intercalation Voltage Profile
The pseudo-binary stability diagrams for LixNb2O5 (0≤x≤3) were constructed from previous structure enumeration and DFT relaxations. The stable intermediate phases in the stability diagram were used for static calculations with a denser Γ-centered k-mesh of 9×8×7 to obtain more accurate energies. The voltage profile was then obtained by computing the average voltage between any two stable intermediate phases: where E is the total DFT energy and e is the electronic charge.59
Nudged Elastic Band Calculations
The migration barriers were calculated using climbing image nudged elastic band (CI-NEB) methods. The calculations were performed on 2√{square root over (5)}×2√{square root over (5)}×4 supercells of the rock-salt primitive cell. These configurations were directly obtained by doubling each lattice vector of the low energy structures from previous voltage profile calculations. The number of images used for all CI-NEB calculations was 5. The energies and forces were converged to 5×10−5 eV per supercell and 0.05 eV/A, respectively. It is expected that the neighboring atoms around the migration paths would have substantial effects on the barriers. In particular, there are 4 octahedral neighboring atoms sharing edges with the two octahedral migrating Li atoms and these neighboring atoms can be occupied by either Nb or Li. Herein, six representative low energy configurations were used as starting structures to construct the Li migration paths with x Li and (4−x) Nb occupying the edge-sharing neighboring atoms (see
Although various embodiments have been shown and described, the present disclosure is not so limited and will be understood to include all such modifications and variations would be apparent to one skilled in the art.
This application, under 35 U.S.C. § 119, claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/189,574 filed on May 17, 2021, and entitled “Electrochemically-Induced Amorphous To Rock Salt Phase Transformation In Niobium Oxide Electrode For Li-Ion Batteries,” the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.
The disclosed inventions were made with government support under contract No. DMR-1454984, awarded by the National Science Foundation. The government has certain rights in the inventions.
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
63189574 | May 2021 | US |