Alloying in an Intercalation Host: Metal Titanium Niobates as Anodes for Rechargeable Alkali-Ion Batteries

We discuss here a unique flexible non-carbonaceous layered host, namely, metal titanium niobates (M-Ti-niobate, M: Al³⁺ , Pb²⁺ , Sb³⁺ , Ba²⁺ , Mg²⁺ ), which can synergistically store both lithium ions and sodium ions via a simultaneous intercalation and alloying mechanisms. M-Ti-niobate is formed by ion exchange of the K⁺ ions, which are specifically located inside galleries between the layers formed by edge and corner sharing TiO₆ and NbO₆ octahedral units in the sol-gel synthesized potassium titanium niobate (KTiNbO₅ ). Drastic volume changes (approximately 300-400 %) typically associated with an alloying mechanism of storage are completely tackled chemically by the unique chemical composition and structure of the M-Ti-niobates. The free space between the adjustable Ti/Nb octahedral layers easily accommodates the volume changes. Due to the presence of an optimum amount of multivalent alloying metal ions (50-75 % of total K⁺ ) in the M-Ti-niobate, an efficient alloying reaction takes place directly with ions and completely eliminates any form of mechanical degradation of the electroactive particles. The M-Ti-niobate can be cycled over a wide voltage range (as low as 0.01 V) and displays remarkably stable Li⁺ and Na⁺ ion cyclability (>2 Li⁺ /Na⁺ per formula unit) for widely varying current densities over few hundreds to thousands of successive cycles. The simultaneous intercalation and alloying storage mechanisms is also studied within the density functional theory (DFT) framework. DFT expectedly shows a very small variation in the volume of Al-titanium niobate following lithium alloying. Moreover, the theoretical investigations also conclusively support the occurrence of the alloying process of Li ions with the Al ions along with the intercalation process during discharge. The M-Ti-niobates studied here demonstrate a paradigm shift in chemical design of electrodes and will pave the way for the development of a multitude of improved electrodes for different battery chemistries.