Manipulation of the MoO2/MoSe2 Heterointerface Boosting High Rate and Durability for Sodium/Potassium Storage

The main challenge for sodium/potassium ion storage is to find the suitable host materials to accommodate the larger-sized Na+/K+ and conquer the sluggish chemical kinetics. Herein, by selenation of polyoxometalate in electrospinning fiber, a novel MoO2/MoSe2 heterostructure embedded in one-dimensional (1D) N,P-doped carbon nanofiber (MoO2/MoSe2@NPC) is rationally constructed to show distinct enhancement of rate performance and cycle life for sodium ion batteries (SIBs) and potassium ion batteries (PIBs). The 1D skeleton of MoO2/MoSe2@NPC decreases the diffusion pathway of Na+/K+, and the doping of N/P heteroatoms in carbon fiber creates abundant active sites and provides good reachability for Na+/K+ transportation. MoSe2 nanosheets grow in the bulk phase of MoO2 via in situ local phase transformation to achieve effective and firm heterointerfaces. Especially, the exposure extent of heterointerfaces can be controlled by treatment temperature during the preparation process, and the optimized heterointerfaces result in an ideal synergic effect between MoO2 and MoSe2. DFT calculations confirm that the internal electric field in the heterogeneous interface guides the electron transfer from MoO2 to MoSe2, combined with strong adsorption capacity toward sodium/potassium, facilitating ion/electron transfer kinetics. It is confirmed that the MoO2/MoSe2@NPC anode for SIBs delivers 382 mA h g(-1) under 0.1 A upon 200 cycles; meanwhile, a reversible capacity of 266 mA h g(-1) is maintained even under 2 A g(-1 )after 2000 cycles. For PIBs, it can reach up to 216 mA h in the 200th cycle and still retain 125 mA h g(-1) after 2000 cycles under 1 A This study opens up a new interface manipulation strategy for the design of anode materials to boost fast Na+/K+ storage kinetics.

Automated summary

The study focuses on the challenges of sodium/potassium ion storage and proposes a novel MoO2/MoSe2@NPC heterostructure embedded in one-dimensional carbon nanofiber. This heterostructure effectively improves rate performance and cycle life for sodium ion batteries and potassium ion batteries by decreasing diffusion pathway and providing abundant active sites. The optimized heterointerfaces between MoO2 and MoSe2 result in enhanced electron transfer kinetics.