Optimization of Electrode and Cell Design for Ultrafast-Charging Lithium-Ion Batteries Based on Molybdenum Niobium Oxide Anodes

Niobium oxides are an emerging class of anode materials for use in high-power lithium-ion batteries. Galvanostatic cycling and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were used in this study to investigate the influence of electrode porosity, electrode mass ratio, and cycling rate on the capacity, cycle life, and ionic conductivity of Li-ion battery cells based on a modified micron-sized MoNb₁₂O₃₃ (MNO) anode powder. Both electrode and cell designs were found to have a significant impact on the rate performance and cycle life of Li-ion half- and full cells. A higher specific capacity, improved rate performance, and a longer cycle life were obtained in both anode and cathode half-cells by lowering the electrode porosity through calendaring. MNO/Li half-coin cells displayed excellent cyclability, reaching 80% state of health (SOH) after 600 cycles at C/2 charge and 1C discharge. MNO/NMC622 full-coin cells displayed a high capacity of 179 mAh g^-1 at 100 mA g^-1 (0.5 mA cm^-2) and excellent cyclability at 25 °C, reaching 70% SOH after over 1000 cycles at 1 mA cm^-2 after optimizing their N/P ratio. Excellent cyclability was obtained at both 1C/1C and fast 2C/2C cycling, reaching 80% SOH after 700 and 470 cycles, respectively. Full-coin and small pouch cells had outstanding rate performance as they could be charged from 0 to 84% capacity in less than 5 min at 10 mA cm^-2 and to 70% SOC in 120 s at 20 mA cm^-2.