A Zero-Strain Insertion Cathode Material for Room-Temperature Fluoride-Ion Batteries

A fluoride-ion battery (FIB) is a novel type of energy storage system that has a higher volumetric energy density and low cost. However, the high working temperature (>150 °C) and unsatisfactory cycling performance of cathode materials are not favorable for their practical application. Herein, fluoride ion-intercalated CoFe layered double hydroxide (LDH) (CoFe-F LDH) was prepared by a facile co-precipitation approach combined with ion-exchange. The CoFe-F LDH shows a reversible capacity of ∼50 mAh g–1 after 100 cycles at room temperature. Although there is still a big gap between FIBs and lithium-ion batteries, the CoFe-F LDH is superior to most cathode materials for FIBs. Another important advantage of CoFe-F LDH FIBs is that they can work at room temperature, which has been rarely achieved in previous reports. The superior performance stems from the unique topochemical transformation property and small volume change (∼0.82%) of LDH in electrochemical cycles. Such a tiny volume change makes LDH a zero-strain cathode material for FIBs. The 2D diffusion pathways and weak interaction between fluoride ions and host layers facilitate the de/intercalation of fluoride ions, accompanied by the chemical state changes of Co2+/Co3+ and Fe2+/Fe3+ couples. First-principles calculations also reveal a low F– diffusion barrier during the cyclic process. These findings expand the application field of LDH materials and propose a novel avenue for the designs of cathode materials toward room-temperature FIBs.