An excellent and fast anodes for lithium-ion batteries based on the 1T′-MoTe₂ phase material

Fast charging battery materials are of incredible interest to the industry as well as in academia. To enhance the fast charging capabilities of batteries, anode materials must have fast Li-ion diffusion and reaction kinetics. The inherent high electronic conductivity and volumetric energy density of semimetallic 1T′-MoTe2 are advantageous as a high-rate anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). The high mass density of MoTe2 helps to decrease the electrode thickness, thus requiring less electrolyte infiltration favoring a reduction in the auxiliary material and electrolyte costs and indirectly increasing the energy density of the cell. Here, a pristine 1T′-MoTe2 material prepared by a facile and efficient solid-state synthesis route without any addition of carbonaceous additives or surface modifications delivered an initial specific capacity of 538 mAh g-1 with a capacity retention of 92% at 1 A g-1 along with a Coulombic efficiency of 99% over 200 cycles. Ex situ X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) was performed to elucidate the lithium storage mechanism of the 1T′-MoTe2 anode, which was further complemented by lithiation/delithiation calculations performed using density functional theory. Furthermore, the 1T′-MoTe2//LiCoO2 full cell exhibited a reversible specific capacity of 388 mAh g-1 at 100 mA g-1 with a Coulombic efficiency of 96% over 100 cycles, which indicates its potential in fast charging battery cells.