Revisiting the capacity-fading mechanism of P2-type sodium layered oxide cathode materials during high-voltage cycling

P2-type sodium layered oxide cathode (Na_(2/3)Ni_(1/3)Mn_(2/3)O_(2)P2-NNMO) has attracted great attention as a promising cathode material for sodium ion batteries because of its high specific capacity. However, this material suffers from a rapid capacity fade during high-voltage cycling. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain the capacity fade, including intragranular fracture caused by the P2-O2 phase transion, surface structural change, and irreversible lattice oxygen release. Here we systematically investigated the morphological, structural, and chemical changes of P2-NNMO during high-voltage cycling using a variety of characterization techniques. It was found that the lattice distortion and crystal-plane buckling induced by the P2-O2 phase transition slowed down the Na-ion transport in the bulk and hindered the extraction of the Na ions. The sluggish kinetics was the main reason in reducing the accessible capacity while other interfacial degradation mechanisms played minor roles. Our results not only enabled a more complete understanding of the capacity-fading mechanism of P2-NNMO but also revealed the underlying correlations between lattice doping and the moderately improved cycle performance.

Growth and transport properties of topological insulator Bi2Se3 thin film on a ferromagnetic insulating substrate

Exchange coupling between topological insulator and ferromagnetic insulator through proximity effect is strongly attractive for both fundamental physics and technological applications. Here we report a comprehensive investigation on the growth behaviors of prototype topological insulator Bi2Se3 thin film on a single-crystalline LaCoO3 thin film on SrTiO3 substrate, which is a strain-induced ferromagnetic insulator. Different from the growth on other substrates, the Bi2Se3 films with highest quality on LaCoO3 favor a relatively low substrate temperature during growth. As a result, an inverse dependence of carrier mobility with the substrate temperature is found. Moreover, the magnetoresistance and coherence length of weak antilocalization also have a similar inverse dependence with the substrate temperature, as revealed by the magnetotransport measurements. Our experiments elucidate the special behaviors in Bi2Se3/LaCoO3 heterostructures, which provide a good platform for exploring related novel quantum phenomena, and are inspiring for device applications.