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Title: Probing microstructure and phase evolution of α-MoO3 nanobelts for sodium-ion batteries by in situ transmission electron microscopy

Abstract

The fundamental electrochemical reaction mechanisms and the phase transformation pathways of layer-structured α-MoO3 nanobelt during the sodiation/desodiation process to date remain largely unknown. In this study, to observe the real-time sodiation/desodiaton behaviors of α-MoO3 during electrochemical cycling, we construct a MoO3 anode sodium-ion battery inside a transmission electron microscope (TEM). Utilizing in situ TEM and electron diffraction pattern (EDP) observation, α-MoO3 nanobelts are found to undergo a unique multi-step phase transformation. Upon the first sodiation, α-MoO3 nanobelts initially form amorphous NaxMoO3 phase and are subsequently sodiated into intermediate phase of crystalline NaMoO2, finally resulting in the crystallized Mo nanograins embedded within the Na2O matrix. During the first desodiation process, Mo nanograins are firstly re-oxidized into intermediate phase NaMoO2 that is further transformed into amorphous Na2MoO3, resulting in an irreversible phase transformation. Upon subsequent sodiation/desodiation cycles, however, a stable and reversible phase transformation between crystalline Mo and amorphous Na2MoO3 phases has been revealed. In conclusion, our work provides an in-deepth understanding of the phase transformation pathways of α-MoO3 nanobelts upon electrochemical sodiation/desodiation processes, with the hope of assistance in designing sodium-ion batteries with enhanced performance.

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [4]
  1. Southeast University, Nanjing (China). SEU-FEI Nano-Pico Center, Key Laboratory of MEMS of the Ministry of Education
  2. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN)
  3. Southeast University, Nanjing (China). Department of Physics, Key Laboratory of MEMS of the Ministry of Education
  4. Southeast University, Nanjing (China). SEU-FEI Nano-Pico Center, Key Laboratory of MEMS of the Ministry of Education; Joint Research Institute of Southeast University and Monash University, Suzhou (China). Center for Advanced Materials and Manufacture
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
OSTI Identifier:
1336074
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1396391
Report Number(s):
BNL-112456-2016-JA
Journal ID: ISSN 2211-2855; KC0403020
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC0012704; SC0012704l
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Nano Energy
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 27; Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 2211-2855
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; Sodium-ion batteries; In situ TEM; MoO3; Sodiation/desodiation; Multi-step phase transformation

Citation Formats

Xia, Weiwei, Xu, Feng, Zhu, Chongyang, Xin, Huolin L., Xu, Qingyu, Sun, Pingping, and Sun, Litao. Probing microstructure and phase evolution of α-MoO3 nanobelts for sodium-ion batteries by in situ transmission electron microscopy. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1016/j.nanoen.2016.07.017.
Xia, Weiwei, Xu, Feng, Zhu, Chongyang, Xin, Huolin L., Xu, Qingyu, Sun, Pingping, & Sun, Litao. Probing microstructure and phase evolution of α-MoO3 nanobelts for sodium-ion batteries by in situ transmission electron microscopy. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nanoen.2016.07.017
Xia, Weiwei, Xu, Feng, Zhu, Chongyang, Xin, Huolin L., Xu, Qingyu, Sun, Pingping, and Sun, Litao. Fri . "Probing microstructure and phase evolution of α-MoO3 nanobelts for sodium-ion batteries by in situ transmission electron microscopy". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nanoen.2016.07.017. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1336074.
@article{osti_1336074,
title = {Probing microstructure and phase evolution of α-MoO3 nanobelts for sodium-ion batteries by in situ transmission electron microscopy},
author = {Xia, Weiwei and Xu, Feng and Zhu, Chongyang and Xin, Huolin L. and Xu, Qingyu and Sun, Pingping and Sun, Litao},
abstractNote = {The fundamental electrochemical reaction mechanisms and the phase transformation pathways of layer-structured α-MoO3 nanobelt during the sodiation/desodiation process to date remain largely unknown. In this study, to observe the real-time sodiation/desodiaton behaviors of α-MoO3 during electrochemical cycling, we construct a MoO3 anode sodium-ion battery inside a transmission electron microscope (TEM). Utilizing in situ TEM and electron diffraction pattern (EDP) observation, α-MoO3 nanobelts are found to undergo a unique multi-step phase transformation. Upon the first sodiation, α-MoO3 nanobelts initially form amorphous NaxMoO3 phase and are subsequently sodiated into intermediate phase of crystalline NaMoO2, finally resulting in the crystallized Mo nanograins embedded within the Na2O matrix. During the first desodiation process, Mo nanograins are firstly re-oxidized into intermediate phase NaMoO2 that is further transformed into amorphous Na2MoO3, resulting in an irreversible phase transformation. Upon subsequent sodiation/desodiation cycles, however, a stable and reversible phase transformation between crystalline Mo and amorphous Na2MoO3 phases has been revealed. In conclusion, our work provides an in-deepth understanding of the phase transformation pathways of α-MoO3 nanobelts upon electrochemical sodiation/desodiation processes, with the hope of assistance in designing sodium-ion batteries with enhanced performance.},
doi = {10.1016/j.nanoen.2016.07.017},
journal = {Nano Energy},
number = C,
volume = 27,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Jul 15 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Fri Jul 15 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}

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