Enhancing ammonium-ion storage in Mo-doped VO2 (B) nanobelt-bundles anode for aqueous ammonium-ion batteries

The recent surge in interest in aqueous ammonium ion rechargeable batteries (AAIBs) has been fueled by their eco-friendliness, efficiency, safety, and sustainability. However, finding the optimal anode material for effective ammonium ion (NH4+) storage remains a nascent and significant challenge. The research presented here focuses on the enhancement of aqueous ammonium rechargeable batteries by incorporating Mo atoms into VO2 (B) (denote as MVO), a material that has shown promise as an anode for NH4+ storage. The introduction of Mo ions was found to optimize the electronic structure and morphology of pristine VO2 (B) (label as PVO), resulting in the transformation of its nanobelts into thin nanobelt-bundles. This alteration exposes more active sites and increases oxygen vacancies, which in turn improve the conductivity and diffusion rate of NH4+ ions, thereby enhancing the overall electrochemical performance of the material. The MVO material demonstrates a high initial capacity of 283.5 mA h g-1 at 0.3 A g-1, and maintained 86.7% of its capacity after 4500 cycles, indicating excellent long-term stability. To further validate the practical application, a full cell was garnered utilizing MVO as the anode and Cu3[Fe(CN)6]2 (CuHCF) as the cathode. The resulting AAIB displays remarkable cycling stability, with 81.5% capacity preservation after 1000 cycles and large energy density of 57.9 W h kg-1. The study reveals that the doping of Mo ions can significantly improve both the stability and NH4+ storage capacity of PVO, offering a promising new direction for the exploitation of efficacious and sustainable NH4+ host materials for rechargeable batteries.