Recently, Prof. Lian’s group published a research article entitled "Interfacial engineering for metal oxide/nitride nano-heterojunctions towards high-rate lithium ion storage" in Journal of Materials Chemistry A (J. Mater. Chem. A, 2022, 10, 7391). Bobo Zou, Dr. Wei Zhang and Dr. Yingxue Cui are the co-first authors, and Prof. Jiabiao Lian is the corresponding author.

High-rate anode materials are highly desirable to satisfy the requirements for high-power energy storage devices. In this paper, precise interfacial engineering of transition metal oxides (TMOs: α-Fe₂O₃, T-Nb₂O₅, WO₃) is achieved to construct the TMOs/TMNs nano-heterojunctions. The interfacial interaction and synergistic effects of the building blocks endow the integrated nano-heterojunctions with enhanced lithium-ion (Li⁺) storage performance. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations on the case of Fe₃O₄/Fe₂N reveal that the electrons flow from Fe₂N into Fe₃O₄ through the strong coupling heterointerfaces and a built-in electric field (BIEF) is induced. Such BIEF can push Li⁺ ions into the negatively charged Fe₃O₄, which is responsible for the high Li⁺ adsorbability (−1.974 eV) and low diffusion barrier (0.63 eV), thus promoting the electron/ion transfer kinetics and further enhancing the rate capability (712.3 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.1 A g⁻¹ with a retention of 75% at 2.5 A g⁻¹). Moreover, the secondary-structure of the nano-heterojunctions can retain their structural integrity during the charge-discharge processes, resulting in a long-term cycling stability. This work offers an instructive concept on promoting the electron/charge transfer kinetics via interfacial engineering to boost high-rate Li⁺ storage.

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20170549) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21706103 and 22075109). J. Lian extends sincere appreciation to Jiangsu Provincial Program for High-Level Innovative and Entrepreneurial Talents Introduction, Young Talent Cultivation Plan of Jiangsu University. We thank Prof. Hui Li (Beijing University of Chemical Technology) for valuable discussions on the DFT calculations.