Unlocking the Inaccessible Energy Density of Sodium Vanadium Fluorophosphate Electrode Materials by Transition Metal Mixing

Abstract

Sodium (Na) vanadium (V) fluorophosphate $\mathrm{N}{\mathrm{a}}_{\mathrm{x}}{\mathrm{V}}_2(\mathrm{P}{\mathrm{O}}_4{)}_2{\mathrm{F}}_3$ (NVPF) is a highly attractive intercalation electrode material due to its high operation voltage, large capacity, and long cycle life. However, several issues limit the full utilization of NVPF's energy density: 1) the high voltage plateau associated with extracting the "third" Na ion in the reaction N${}_1$VPF $\to$ VPF (~4.9 V vs Na/Na${}^{+}$) appears above the electrochemical stability window of most practical electrolytes (~4.5 V); 2) a sudden drop in Na-ion diffusivity is observed near composition $\mathrm{N}{\mathrm{a}}_1{\mathrm{V}}_2(\mathrm{P}{\mathrm{O}}_4{)}_2{\mathrm{F}}_3$. Therefore, it is important to investigate the potential substitution of V by other transition metals in NVPF derivatives, which can access the extraction of the third Na-ion. In this work, we investigate the partial substitution of V with molybdenum (Mo), niobium (Nb), or tungsten (W) in NVPF to improve its energy density. We examine the structural and electrochemical behaviors of $\mathrm{N}{\mathrm{a}}_{\mathrm{x}}{\mathrm{V}}_{2-\mathrm{y}}\mathrm{M}{\mathrm{o}}_{\mathrm{y}}(\mathrm{P}{\mathrm{O}}_4{)}_2{\mathrm{F}}_3$, $\mathrm{N}{\mathrm{a}}_{\mathrm{x}}{\mathrm{V}}_{2-\mathrm{y}}\mathrm{N}{\mathrm{b}}_{\mathrm{y}}(\mathrm{P}{\mathrm{O}}_4{)}_2{\mathrm{F}}_3$, and $\mathrm{N}{\mathrm{a}}_{\mathrm{x}}{\mathrm{W}}_2(\mathrm{P}{\mathrm{O}}_4{)}_2{\mathrm{F}}_3$ across the whole Na composition region of 0 $\le$ x $\le$ 4, and at various transition metal substitution levels, namely, y=0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 for Mo, and y=1.0, 2.0 for Nb. We find that partial substitution of 50% V by Mo in NVPF reduces the voltage plateau for extracting the third Na ion by 0.6 Volts, which enables further Na extraction from $\mathrm{N}{\mathrm{a}}_1\mathrm{M}{\mathrm{o}}_2(\mathrm{P}{\mathrm{O}}_4{)}_2{\mathrm{F}}_3$ and increases the theoretical gravimetric capacity from ~128 to ~174 mAh/g. Analysis of the migration barriers for Na-ions in $\mathrm{N}{\mathrm{a}}_{\mathrm{x}}\mathrm{VMo}(\mathrm{P}{\mathrm{O}}_4{)}_2{\mathrm{F}}_3$ unveils improved kinetic properties over NVPF. The proposed $\mathrm{N}{\mathrm{a}}_{\mathrm{x}}\mathrm{VMo}(\mathrm{P}{\mathrm{O}}_4{)}_2{\mathrm{F}}_3$ material provides an optimal gravimetric energy density of ~577.3 Wh/kg versus ~507 Wh/kg for the pristine NVPF, which amounts to an increase of ~13.9%.