One-pot synthesis of P2-type layered sodium oxides with high capacity and super-long life for sodium-ion batteries

Here, we report for the first time a simple one-pot method for synthesizing layered sodium oxide Na2/3Mn0.67Ni0.22Co0.07O2 (EW-NaMNC) by ethanol-assisted hydrothermal method. This novel synthetic method is a one-pot technology which does not involve mechanical mixing of Na source and precursor, it thus can prevent the loss of all elements and the material with good chemical homogeneity and well-ordered structure can be achieved. As cathode material for sodium-ion batteries, the as-synthesized EW-NaMNC exhibits a high reversible capacity of 104.1 mAh g−1 at 0.5C after 100 cycles, excellent rate performance of 79.7 mAh g−1 at 5C, and significantly enhanced cycling life of 56 mAh g−1 at 10C after 880 cycles. This elegant, facile, and one-pot cathode synthesis approach with excellent electrochemical performance will result in technological advances of Na layered cathode material in Na-ion batteries.