Innovative Mn_(3-x)O_(4-y)@NCA design:Leveraging Mn/O vacancies and amorphous architecture for enhanced sodium-ion storage

Manganese-based oxide electrode materials suffer from severe Jahn-Teller(J-T)distortion,leading to severe cycle instability in sodium ion storage.However,it is difficult to adjust the electron at d orbitals exactly to a low spin state to eliminate orbital degeneracy and suppress J-T distortion fundamentally.This article constructed concentration-controllable Mn/O coupled vacancy and amorphous network in Mn_(3)O_(4) and coated it with nitrogen-doped carbon aerogel(Mn_(3-x)O_(4-y)@NCA).The existence of Mn/O vacancies has been confirmed by scanning transmission electron microscopy(STEM)and positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy(PALS).Atomic absorption spectroscopy(AAS)and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS)determine the most optimal ratio of Mn/O vacancies for sodium ion storage is 1:2.Density functional theory(DFT)calculations prove that Mn/O coupled vacancies with the ratio of 1:2could exactly induce a low spin states and a d~4 electron configuration of Mn,suppressing the J-T distortion successfully.The abundant amorphous regions can shorten the transport distance of sodium ions,increase the electrochemically active sites and improve the pseudocapacitance response.From the synergetic effect of Mn/O coupled vacancies and amorphous regions,Mn_(3-x)O_(4-y)@NCA exhibits an energy density of 37.5 W h kg^(-1)and an ultra-high power density of 563 W kg^(-1)in an asymmetric supercapacitor.In sodium-ion batteries,it demonstrates high reversible capacity and exceptional cycling stability.This research presents a new method to improve the Na^(+)storage performance in manganese-based oxide,which is expected to be generalized to other structural distortion.

Electronic,Magnetic and Photocatalytic Properties in(Fe,Ni)-Codoped SrTiO3 with and without Oxygen Vacancies:a First-principles Study

The enhanced magnetic and photocatalytic properties of（Fe, Ni）-codoped SrTiO3 with and without oxygen vacancies are investigated using the first-principles calculations based on the density functional theory plus U calculations. It is revealed that the structure phase transition associated with O vacancy imposes significant influence on magnetic and optical properties. The results show that the Ni oxidation state in（Fe, Ni）-codoped SrTiO3 is about 2＋, which is different from that of 4＋ in Ni monodoped SrTiO3 in previous experimental investigations. The presence of O vacancy leads to a semiconductor-half-metal transition in codoped SrTiO3. The（Fe, Ni）-codoped SrTiO3 without O vacancy produces an enhanced magnetization and induces a giant magnetic moment of 3 μB, while a relatively small magnetic moment of 0.36 μB is generated in（Fe, Ni）-codoped SrTiO3 with O vacancy. The origin of the large enhancement of magnetic moment in（Fe, Ni）-codoped SrTiO3 without O vacancy was ascribed to the reduced hybridization in Fe–O bonds and the enhanced hybridization in Ni–O bonds, which modulated antiferromagnetic spin structure. The dispersion of the conduction bands and valence bands of codoped SrTiO3 is enhanced after codoping, which benefits the photocatalytic performance. Furthermore, the（Fe, Ni）-codoped SrTiO3 shows a remarkable red-shift of absorption spectra edge and induces a strong optical absorption in the visible light region, indicating that it could be taken as a potential candidate for photocatalytic materials.

Boosting the lithium-ion storage performance of perovskite Sr_(x)VO_(3-δ) via Sr cation and O anion deficient engineering

Perovskite SrVO_(3) has been investigated as a promising lithium storage anode where the V cation plays the role of the redox center,combining excellent cycle stability and safe operating potential versus Li metal plating,with limited capacity.Here,we demonstrate the possibility to boost the lithium storage properties,by reducing the non-redox active Sr cation content and fine-tuning the O anion vacancies while maintaining a non-stoichiometric Sr_(x)VO_(3-δ) perovskite structure.Theoretical investigations suggest that Sr vacancy can work as favorable Li^(+) storage sites and preferential transport channels for guest Li^(+) ions,contributing to the increased specific capacity and rate performance.In contrast,inducing O anion vacancy in Sr_(x)VO_(3-δ) can improve rate performance while compromising the specific capacity.Our experimental results confirm the enhancement of specific capacities by fine adjusting the Sr and O vacancies,with a maximum capacity of 444 mAh g^(-1) achieved with Sr_(0.63)VO_(3-δ),which is a 37%increase versus stoichiometric SrVO_(3).Although rich defects have been induced,Sr_(x)VO_(3-δ) electrodes maintain a stable perovskite structure during cycling versus a LiFePO_(4) cathode,and the full-cell could achieve more than 6000 discharge/charge cycles with 80%capacity retention.This result highlights the possibility to use the cation defective-based engineering approach to design high-capacity perovskite oxide anode materials.