Enhancement of Sodium Ion Battery Performance Enabled by Oxygen Vacancies

The utilization of oxygen vacancies (OVs) in sodium ion batteries (SIBs) is expected to enhance performance, but as yet it has rarely been reported. Taking the MoO(3-x) nanosheet anode as an example, for the first time we demonstrate the benefits of OVs on SIB performance. Moreover, the benefits at deep-discharge conditions can be further promoted by an ultrathin Al2O3 coating. A series of measurements show that the OVs increase the electric conductivity and Na-ion diffusion coefficient, and the promotion from ultrathin coating lies in the effective reduction of cycling-induced solid-electrolyte interphase. The coated nanosheets exhibited high reversible capacity and great rate capability with the capacities of 283.9 (50 mA g(-1)) and 179.3 mAh g(-1) (1 A g(-1)) after 100 cycles. This work may not only arouse future attention on OVs for sodium energy storage, but also open up new possibilities for designing strategies to utilize defects in other energy storage systems.