A novel exfoliated manganese phosphoselenide as a high-performance anode material for lithium ions storage

Layered manganese phosphoselenide (MnPSe₃) is expected to be a potential anode for Li ions storage due to it combines the merits of phosphorus with metal selenide. It promotes charge transfer and ensures a high theoretical capacity of up to 746 mA h g^-1. In this work, a comprehensive study clearly demonstrated that bulk MnPSe₃ electrode is the inability to maintain the integrity of the structure with severe detectable fracture or pulverization after full lithiation/delithiation, resulting in poor rate capability and cycling stability. Additionally, exfoliated few-layered MnPSe₃ nanoflakes by the ultrasonic method show enhanced electrical conductivity and resistance to volume expansion. It has a high initial discharge/charge capacity reaching to 524/796 mA h g^-1 and outstanding cycling stability with charge capacities of 709 mA h g^-1 after 100 cycles at 0.2 A g^-1 within the potential window of 0.005-3 V vs. Li⁺/Li. While further improving the cycles, the retention rate was still held at ∼72% after 350 cycles. This work provides new insights into exploiting new novel layered materials, such as MnPSe₃ as anodes for lithium-ion batteries.