Inducing [100]-orientated plate-like α-MoO3 to achieve regularly exfoliated layer structure enhancing Li storage performance

Abstract

Layer-structured α-MoO3 with high theoretical capacity (1117 mAh g−1) is considered as one of the alternative anode materials for LIBs. However, the repeated insertion/extraction of Li+ often causes irregularly exfoliated layer structure of α-MoO3, especially the multiple-direction interlayer Li+ insertion/extraction shows rapid capacity decay. In this work, we achieve regularly exfoliated layer structure by inducing [100]-orientated plate-like α-MoO3 during high-temperature calcinations process. This regularly exfoliated layer structure is dominated by the optimized [100] single-direction Li+ interlayer diffusion way caused by the induced orientation growth. As anode for LIBs, the plate-like α-MoO3 exhibits capacity retention of 86.7% from 1st to 300th, showing enhanced stability of Li storage performance. This work indicates that inducing orientation growth of electrode material to optimize lithium-ion diffusion path can achieve regular exfoliation of layer structure, which can enhance the stability of Li storage performance. This conclusion can be used as a good reference for enhancing stability of layer-structured electrodes by structure design.