Alloying Motif Confined in Intercalative Frameworks toward Rapid Li-Ion Storage

High-capacity alloying-type anodes suffer poor rate capability due to their great volume expansion, while high-rate intercalation-type anodes are troubled with low theoretical capacity. Herein, a novel mechanism of alloying in the intercalative frameworks is proposed to confer both high-capacity and high-rate performances on anodes. Taking the indium-vanadium oxide (IVO) as a typical system, alloying-typed In is dispersed in the stable intercalative V₂ O₃ to form a solid solution. The alloying-typed In element provides high lithium storage capacity, while the robust, Li-conductive V-O frameworks effectively alleviate the volume expansion and aggregation of In. Benefiting from the above merits, the anode exhibits a high specific capacity of 1364 mA h g^-1 at 1 A g^-1 and an extraordinary cyclic performance of 814 mA h g^-1 at 10 A g^-1 after 600 cycles (124.9 mA h g^-1 after 10 000 cycles at 50 A g^-1 ). The superior electrochemical rate capability of (In,V)₂ O₃ solid solution anode rivals that of the reported alloying anode materials. This strategy can be extended for fabricating other alloying/intercalation hybrid anodes, such as (Sn,V)O₂ and (Sn,Ti)O₂ , which demonstrates the universality of confining alloying motifs in intercalative frameworks for rapid and high-capacity lithium storage.