Bonding Heterogeneity Leads to Hierarchical and Ultralow Lattice Thermal Conductivity in Sodium Metavanadate

Xin Jin; Xianyong Ding; Fangyang Zhan; Qiang Gao; Rui Wang; Xiaolong Yang; Xuewei Lv

doi:10.1021/acs.jpclett.2c03061

Bonding Heterogeneity Leads to Hierarchical and Ultralow Lattice Thermal Conductivity in Sodium Metavanadate

J Phys Chem Lett. 2022 Dec 8;13(48):11160-11168. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.2c03061. Epub 2022 Nov 28.

Authors

Xin Jin^{1

2}, Xianyong Ding³, Fangyang Zhan³, Qiang Gao¹, Rui Wang³, Xiaolong Yang³, Xuewei Lv^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China.
² Chongqing Key Laboratory of Vanadium-Titanium Metallurgy and Advanced Materials, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China.
³ College of Physics and Center of Quantum Materials and Devices, Chongqing University, Chongqing 401331, China.

PMID: 36442543
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.2c03061

Abstract

Sodium metavanadate (NaVO₃) is a promising low-cost candidate as a cathode material for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) owing to its high cycle performance. Its thermal transport, although being a central factor limiting its practical applications, remains scarce. Herein, we comprehensively investigate the intrinsic thermal transport properties of the two phases of NaVO₃ using the unified theory. Importantly, we identify a hierarchical thermal transport mechanism in NaVO₃ and the significant contribution of diffusive thermal transport. With the combined two channels, we reveal that NaVO₃ has the anisotropic and ultralow thermal conductivity κ, which is derived from the bonding heterogeneity with the coexistence of strong V-O bonds and weak Na-O bonds, implying the possibility of engineering the κ of SIBs by spatially tuning the sodium concentration distribution. Our work establishes a fundamental understanding of the intrinsic thermal transport of NaVO₃ and provides guidance toward designing tunable thermal conductivity cathode materials for SIBs.