First-principles study of borophene/phosphorene heterojunction as anode material for lithium-ion batteries

It is urgent to explore high-capacity and efficient anode materials for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (LIB). For borophene and phosphorene, two configurations are considered to form a heterojunction: twist angles of 0º (I) and 90º (II). There is a less degree of mismatch and larger formation energy in the formation of a B/P heterojunction, implying that borophene and phosphorene form the stable heterojunction. The heterojunctions of these two configurations demonstrate good conductivity, and the electrons near the Fermi level are mainly provided by borophene. Very importantly, the low energy barrier for interlayer migration of Li is observed in configuration I (0.14eV) and II (0.06 eV), and the migration of Li on the borophene and phosphorene side of the heterojunction still maintains its original energy barrier in bare monolayer. Moreover, the two configurations show the theoretical capacity as high as 738.69 and 721.86 mA h g-1, respectively, which is comparable to bare phosphorene. Furthermore, compared with bare phosphorene, the average voltage is greatly reduced after the formation of heterojunction. Hence, the overall electrochemical properties of the B/P heterojunction have been enhanced by combining the advantages of the individual phosphorene and borophene monolayers, which guarantees the B/P heterojunction as a good candidate for the anode material used in Li-ion batteries.