A cooperative biphasic MoOx-MoPx promoter enables a fast-charging lithium-ion battery.

The realisation of fast-charging lithium-ion batteries with long cycle lifetimes is hindered by the uncontrollable plating of metallic Li on the graphite anode during high-rate charging. Here we report that surface engineering of graphite with a cooperative biphasic MoOx–MoPx promoter improves the charging rate and suppresses Li plating without compromising energy density. We design and synthesise MoOx–MoPx/graphite via controllable and scalable surface engineering, i.e., the deposition of a MoOx nanolayer on the graphite surface, followed by vapour-induced partial phase transformation of MoOx to MoPx. A variety of analytical studies combined with thermodynamic calculations demonstrate that MoOx effectively mitigates the formation of resistive films on the graphite surface, while MoPx hosts Li+ at relatively high potentials via a fast intercalation reaction and plays a dominant role in lowering the Li+ adsorption energy. The MoOx–MoPx/graphite anode exhibits a fast-charging capability (<10 min charging for 80% of the capacity) and stable cycling performance without any signs of Li plating over 300 cycles when coupled with a LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 cathode. Thus, the developed approach paves the way to the design of advanced anode materials for fast-charging Li-ion batteries. Fast-charging of lithium-ion batteries is hindered by the uncontrollable plating of metallic Li on the graphite anode during cycling. Here, the authors demonstrate the fast chargeability and long cycle lifetimes via surface engineering of graphite with a cooperative biphasic MoOx–MoPx promoter.