Unveiling the sodium intercalation properties in Na1.86□0.14Fe3(PO4)3

Abstract

The new compound Na1.86□0.14Fe3(PO4)3 was successfully synthesized via hydrothermal synthesis and its crystal structure was determined using powder X-ray diffraction data. Na1.86Fe3(PO4)3 was also characterized by operando XRD and Mössbauer spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and galvanostatic cycling. Na1.86Fe3(PO4)3 crystallizes with the alluaudite-type structure with the eight coordinated Na1 and Na2 sodium atoms located within the channels. The combination of the Rietveld- and Mössbauer-analyses confirms that the sodium vacancies in the Na1 site are linked to a partial oxidation of Fe2+ during synthesis. The electrochemical tests indicated that Na1.86Fe3(PO4)3 is a 3 V sodium intercalating cathode. At the current densities of 5, 10, and 20 mA g−1, the material delivers the specific capacities of 109, 97, and 80 mA h g−1, respectively. After 100 charge and discharge cycles, Na1.86Fe3(PO4)3 exhibited good sodium removal and uptake behavior although no optimizations of particle size, morphology, and carbon coating were performed.