MoO2-Mo2C uniformly encapsulated into N, P co-doped carbon nanofibers as a freestanding anode for high and long-term lithium storage

Abstract

Lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs) have been widely studied and developed as the currently predominant energy storage devices. As anode materials for LIBs, Molybdenum dioxide (MoO2) has attracted many researchers’ attention owing to its high conductivity, theoretical capacity, chemical stability and rich abundance. However, MoO2 bulk materials suffer from sluggish kinetics during lithiation, resulting in their rapid capacity fading and inferior cycling performance. Therefore, we prepare an electrospun electrode evenly encapsulating MoO2-Mo2C nanoparticles into N, P co-doped carbon nanofibers (MoO2-Mo2C@CNFs) composite as a free-standing anode for LIBs. The Mo2C promotes the electrical conductivity of the composite. The N, P co-doped CNFs provide more active sites for lithium storage, faster kinetics for Li+ transport and better mechanical strength for cycling stability. The uniform combination of MoO2-Mo2C and N, P co-doped CNFs ensures the anode to obtain high capacity. When served as the anode for LIBs, MoO2-Mo2C@CNFs exhibits excellent electrochemical performance in terms of its high capacity and long cycle life.