MoTe₂, A novel anode material for sodium ion battery

2D layered transition metal dichalcogenides are considered as a potential anode for sodium-ion batteries due to their high specific capacity, structural stability and its well-developed two-dimensional layers. 2D layered structure Molybdenum ditelluride (MoTe₂) provides a superior Na-ion storage properties in sodium ion battery due to its comparative more interlayer spacing (0.699 nm). In the current study MoTe₂ polycrystalline powder sample has been prepared by solid state reaction process, the structural and morphological studies have been carried out by XRD, FE-SEM and EDS etc. XRD study revealsthe well crystalline structure of the material having hexagonal structure. FE-SEM and EDS studies depict the uniformflakes like structure of the material. When it is tested as sodium-ion battery anode by applying a potential window 0.1-2.5 V, the material demonstrates a high capacity and high power performances. The as prepared MoTe₂ shows an initial discharge capacity of 376 mA h g^-1 and a corresponding discharge capacity of 303 mA h g^-1 after the 50^th cycle at a current density of 500 mA g^-1.