Nickel Niobate Anodes for High Rate Lithium-Ion Batteries

Fast charging is one of the key requirements for next-generation lithium-ion batteries, however, lithium-ion diffusion rates of typical electrode materials are limited. Nanosizing of active electrode material is a common strategy to increase the effective lithium-ion diffusion transport rate, but it also decreases the volumetric energy/power density and stability of the battery. In this work, nickel niobate NiNb2O6 is demonstrated for the first time as a new intrinsic high-rate anode material for lithium-ion batteries without the requirement of realizing nano-architectures. The NiNb2O6 host crystal structure exhibits only a single type of channel for lithium-ion intercalation and can be fully lithiated with a capacity of about 244 mAh g(-1) at low current densities. Interestingly, a high diffusion coefficient of 10(-12) cm(2) s(-1) at 300 K enables fast (dis)charging at high current densities resulting in high capacities of 140 and 50 mAh g(-1) for 10 and 100C respectively. The minimal volume change during lithiation is the origin of the stable reversible lithiation process in NiNb2O6 and leads to 81% capacity retention after 20 000 cycles at 100C. Finally, full cell systems against LiFePO4 and Li[Ni0.8Co0.1Mn0.1]O-2 (NCM811) cathodes demonstrate the promising energy storage performance of nickel niobate anodes in practical battery devices.

Automated summary

The study introduces nickel niobate NiNb2O6 as a new high-rate anode material for lithium-ion batteries, demonstrating high capacity and stability with a high diffusion coefficient. The material shows minimal volume change during lithiation, leading to stable reversible lithiation process and promising energy storage performance in practical battery devices.