Laboratory Operando XAS Study of Sodium Iron Titanite Cathode in the Li-Ion Half-Cell

Electrochemical characterization of the novel sodium iron titanate Na_0.9Fe_0.45Ti_1.55O₄ was performed upon cycling in the Li-ion half-cell. The material exhibited stable cycling in the voltage range 2-4.5 V, and the number of alkali ions extracted per formula unit was approximately half of the Na stoichiometry value. Using laboratory X-ray absorption spectrometry, we measured operando Fe K-edge X-ray absorption spectra in the first 10 charge-discharge cycles and quantified the portion of charge associated with the transition metal redox reaction. Although 3d metals are commonly accepted redox-active centers in the intercalation process, we found that in all cycles the amount of oxidized and reduced Fe ions was almost 20% less than the total number of transferred electrons. Using density functional theory (DFT) simulations, we show that part of the reversible capacity is related to the redox reaction on oxygen ions.