Dual interfaces and confinements on Fe2N@Fe3O4/VN heterojunction toward high-efficient lithium storage

Qun Xie; Yunfeng Guan; Zhangwei Xu; Hui Zhu; Yi Jin; Qin Zhang; Zhijun Dong; Guanming Yuan; Xuanke Li; Ye Cong

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2023.06.166

Dual interfaces and confinements on Fe₂N@Fe₃O₄/VN heterojunction toward high-efficient lithium storage

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2023 Nov 15;650(Pt A):798-806. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.06.166. Epub 2023 Jun 25.

Authors

Qun Xie¹, Yunfeng Guan¹, Zhangwei Xu¹, Hui Zhu¹, Yi Jin², Qin Zhang¹, Zhijun Dong¹, Guanming Yuan¹, Xuanke Li¹, Ye Cong³

Affiliations

¹ The State Key Laboratory of Refractories and Metallurgy, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430081, PR China.
² Key Laboratory for Polymerization Engineering and Technology of Ningbo, School of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Ningbo University of Technology (NBUT), Ningbo 315016, PR China.
³ The State Key Laboratory of Refractories and Metallurgy, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430081, PR China. Electronic address: congye@wust.edu.cn.

PMID: 37441972
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.06.166

Abstract

Ferroferric oxide (Fe₃O₄) as an anode material of lithium-ion battery has been widely investigated due to its high theoretical capacity, environmental friendliness, natural abundance, and low cost. However, it suffers from severe aggregation and volume expansion during energy storage. Herein, we rationally construct an advanced Fe₂N@Fe₃O₄/VN heterostructure via a hydrothermal and followed nitridation process, where the wrapping of conductive Fe₂N on the surface of Fe₃O₄ effectively improves the electron conductivity and alleviates the volume expansion, and VN inhibits the agglomeration of Fe₂N@Fe₃O₄. Benefiting from the dual conductive confinements and promoted interfacial charge transfer, the Fe₂N@Fe₃O₄/VN heterojunction exhibits excellent rate capability and cycling stability. It possesses the highest reversible capacity of 420.8 mAh g^-1 at 1 A g^-1 after 600 cycles, which is three times that of Fe₃O₄. Furthermore, a full cell based on a Fe₂N@Fe₃O₄/VN anode and a LiFePO₄ cathode delivers considerable electrochemical performance. This work demonstrates that Fe₂N@Fe₃O₄/VN is a potential anode material and provides a model in constructing other high-performance electrode materials.

Keywords: Dual confinements; Fe(2)N@Fe(3)O(4); Interface engineering; Lithium-ion battery; Vanadium nitride.