P2-type
Na0.67Mn0.75Fe0.25O2 cathode
materials with low cost and high specific capacity
have aroused much interest for sodium-ion batteries. Nevertheless,
the cyclic and structural stabilities need to be improved for practical
application. Herein, we tune the activity and reversibility of the
cationic redox and the structure stability in Na0.67Mn0.75Fe0.25O2 by doping Mg/Ca/F into multi-Na/TM/O
sites, respectively. The capacity performance at a high rate and cyclic
stability are significantly enhanced. The mechanism of the synergy
has been revealed by means of an X-ray photoelectronic spectrometer,
neutron powder diffraction, ex situ/in situ X-ray diffraction, and so on. The improvement of the rate performance
is mostly due to the broadening of the interlayer spacing caused by
the element doping and the decrease of the Na-ion diffusion barrier,
which facilitates Na-ion diffusion. The reduced transitional metal
(TM)–O bond length demonstrates that the bonding energy has
been strengthened, which benefits the structural stability and the
cycling stability. Moreover, the synergy of multisite substitution
suppresses the P2-OP4 phase transition at a high voltage and further
improves the cycle stability. The Mg doping also activates Mn3+/Mn4+ redox and increases the intensity of Mn3+/Mn4+ redox. The ratio of Mn3+/Mn4+ is reduced by Ca substitution. Therefore, the Jahn–Teller
effect, which is harmful to the structural stability, is restrained.
The insights into the synergy of multisite substitution proposed in
this study may also be helpful in the design of other cathode materials.