Construction of Bimetallic Selenides Encapsulated in Nitrogen/Sulfur Co-Doped Hollow Carbon Nanospheres for High-Performance Sodium/Potassium-Ion Half/Full Batteries

Small. 2020 May;16(19):e1907670. doi: 10.1002/smll.201907670. Epub 2020 Apr 20.

Abstract

Metallic selenides have been widely investigated as promising electrode materials for metal-ion batteries based on their relatively high theoretical capacity. However, rapid capacity decay and structural collapse resulting from the larger-sized Na+ /K+ greatly hamper their application. Herein, a bimetallic selenide (MoSe2 /CoSe2 ) encapsulated in nitrogen, sulfur-codoped hollow carbon nanospheres interconnected reduced graphene oxide nanosheets (rGO@MCSe) are successfully designed as advanced anode materials for Na/K-ion batteries. As expected, the significant pseudocapacitive charge storage behavior substantially contributes to superior rate capability. Specifically, it achieves a high reversible specific capacity of 311 mAh g-1 at 10 A g-1 in NIBs and 310 mAh g-1 at 5 A g-1 in KIBs. A combination of ex situ X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy tests reveals the phase transition of rGO@MCSe in NIBs/KIBs. Unexpectedly, they show quite different Na+ /K+ insertion/extraction reaction mechanisms for both cells, maybe due to more sluggish K+ diffusion kinetics than that of Na+ . More significantly, it shows excellent energy storage properties in Na/K-ion full cells when coupled with Na3 V2 (PO4 )2 O2 F and PTCDA@450 °C cathodes. This work offers an advanced electrode construction guidance for the development of high-performance energy storage devices.

Keywords: bimetallic selenides; full cells; potassium-ion batteries; sodium-ion batteries.