Suppressed Dissolution and Enhanced Desolvation in Core–Shell MoO3@TiO2 Nanorods as a High-Rate and Long-Life Anode Material for Proton Batteries

Publication Name

Advanced Energy Materials

Abstract

Rechargeable proton batteries are attractive, because protons as a charge carrier have a small ionic radius, a lightest mass, and a high abundance on Earth. MoO3, as one of the promising anode materials in rechargeable proton batteries, suffers from the severe dissolution in acidic electrolytes upon cycling. Here, an ultrathin TiO2 shell is coated on MoO3 nanorods to suppress the detrimental dissolution during cycles. TiO2 also lowers the desolvation energy of hydrated protons, promoting the reaction kinetics. As a result, MoO3@TiO2 displays outstanding electrochemical performance, especially at high rates (171.0 mAh g−1 at 30 A g−1) and at high mass loadings (17 mAh cm−2 at 104 mg cm−2). The full cells constructed with MnO2 deliver an energy density up to 252.9 Wh kg−1 and a power density of 18.3 kW kg−1. Ex situ X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicate that protons shuttle back and forth between different monoclinic phases. The results offer a simple way to achieve the high performance of MoO3 in a diluted acidic solution.

Open Access Status

This publication is not available as open access

Volume

12

Issue

19

Article Number

2200157

Funding Number

ts201511004

Funding Sponsor

Shandong University

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aenm.202200157