P2-type Na0.59Co0.20Mn0.77Mo0.03O2 cathode with excellent cycle stability for sodium-ion batteries

Layered P2-type Mn-based material is considered as one of the most promising cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries, but its unsatisfactory cyclic performance is one of the problems that need to be overcome. Here, we used molybdenum doping strategy to synthesize P2-type Na0.59Co0.20Mn0.77Mo0.03O2 material with a hexagonal layer structure as the cathode of sodium-ion batteries through a solid-state reaction route. The maximum discharge capacity of the Mo-doped cathode is 131.9 mAh g−1 with the capacity retention rate of 91.51% after 100 cycles at 0.1 C (1 C = 156 mAh g−1). Optimized Mo doping effectively decreases the charge transfer resistance and the interface resistance of the Na0.59Co0.20Mn0.80O2 cathode at open circuit and after 100 cycles, respectively, and the growth trends of the charge transfer resistance and the interface resistance are obviously slowed down, which is proved that the cycling stability of the pristine cathode is significantly improved by Mo doping. The main reasons are as follows: (1) Mo doping expands the a-axis and shortens the TM–O bond, which enhances the structural stability of the P2-type oxide; (2) Mo doping increases the crystallinity of the pristine and decreases the degree of cation disorder in the P2-type oxide; (3) the bond energy of Mo–O is stronger than that of Mn–O and Co–O, resulting in a more stable structure of the material. The results provide a meaningful reference for improving the cycle stability and kinetic performance of P2-type cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries.