Synthesis and Electrochemical Properties of Bi₂MoO₆/Carbon Anode for Lithium-Ion Battery Application

High capacity electrode materials are the key for high energy density Li-ion batteries (LIB) to meet the requirement of the increased driving range of electric vehicles. Here we report the synthesis of a novel anode material, Bi₂MoO₆/palm-carbon composite, via a simple hydrothermal method. The composite shows higher reversible capacity and better cycling performance, compared to pure Bi₂MoO₆. In 0-3 V, a potential window of 100 mA/g current density, the LIB cells based on Bi₂MoO₆/palm-carbon composite show retention reversible capacity of 664 mAh·g^-1 after 200 cycles. Electrochemical testing and ab initio density functional theory calculations are used to study the fundamental mechanism of Li ion incorporation into the materials. These studies confirm that Li ions incorporate into Bi₂MoO₆ via insertion to the interstitial sites in the MoO₆-layer, and the presence of palm-carbon improves the electronic conductivity, and thus enhanced the performance of the composite materials.