Prussian blue and its analogs are regarded as the promising cathodes for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). Recently, various special structures are constructed to improve the electrochemical properties of these materials. In this study, a novel architecture of Prussian blue analogs with large cavity and multilayer shells is investigated as cathode material for SIBs. Because the hollow structure can relieve volume expansion and core-shell heterostructure can optimize interfacial properties, the complex structure materials exhibited a highly initial capacity of 123 mA h g-1 and a long cycle life. After 600 cycles, the reversible capacity of the electrode still maintains at 102 mA h g-1 without significant voltage decay, indicating a superior structure stability and sodium storage kinetics. Even at high current density of 3200 mA g-1 , the electrode still delivers a considerable capacity above 52 mA h g-1 . According to the electrochemical analysis and ex-situ measurements, it can be inferred that the enhanced apparent diffusion coefficient and improved insertion/extraction performance of electrode have been obtained by building this new morphology.
Keywords: Prussian blue analogs; cathodes; core-shell structures; hollow structures; sodium-ion batteries.
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