Improved Performance of Li-Added Mo–Nb Oxide as the Anode for Li-Ion Batteries with N-Carbon Coating

High capacity, fast charging/discharging, safe operation, and long cycle-time are the essential properties of lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) for electric vehicles and large-scale energy storage applications. To meet those properties, an alternative anode has to be developed to replace the traditional graphite electrode. This study aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of Mo–Nb oxide (MNO)-based anode material for fast charging LiB. LiOH is primarily used not only as a source of Li dopant but also as a sintering agent during the solid-state reaction to lower the calcination temperature. After lithium doping, the electrochemical test shows that the C-rate coefficients and capacity retention increase from 12 to 20 C and from 23 to 70.3%, respectively. To further improve the electronic conductivity, Li-added MNO (Li-MNO) is coated with a conductive nitrogen-doped carbon (NC) layer by the pyrolysis method under an argon atmosphere. With more excellent electronic conductivity, the Li-MNO/NC delivers higher specific capacities of 112, 76, and 42 mAhg–1 at high C-rates of 5, 10, and 20 C, respectively, as compared to the Li-MNO with capacities of 75, 50, and 22.8 mAhg–1 at the same C-rates. It retains 70% of its capacity after 100 cycles.