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Unexpected elastic isotropy in a black phosphorene/TiC2 van der Waals heterostructure with flexible Li-ion battery anode applications

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Abstract

Recently, flexible electrodes with biaxial/omnidirectional stretchability have attracted significant attention. However, most existing pliable electrode materials can be only stretched in one direction. In this work, an unexpected isotropic van der Waals (vdW) heterostructure is proposed, based on the assembly of two-dimensional crystals of anisotropic black phosphorene (BP) and transition metal carbide (TiC2). Using vdW-corrected density functional theory calculations, the BP/TiC2 vdW heterostructure was predicted to have excellent structural and mechanical stability, superior electrical conductivity, omnidirectional flexibility, and a high Li storage capacity. We have unraveled the physical origin of the excellent stability, as well as the Li adsorption preferences of the lithiated heterostructure, based on a three-step analysis of the stability of the Li-adsorption processes. In addition, the BP/TiC2 vdW heterostructure can also be applied as the anode material for flexible Na-ion batteries because of its high Na storage capacity and strong Na binding. However, compared with Na adsorption, the capacity is higher, and the adsorption energy is more negative for Li adsorption. Our findings provide valuable insights into the exploration of a rich variety of vdW heterostructures for next-generation flexible energy storage devices.

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Acknowledgments

This work is financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Materials Gnome Initiative), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 61504028 and 61274005), the National Natural Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scientists of China (No. 51225205), the Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (PhD supervisor) (No. 20133514110006), the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province (Nos. 2014J01176 and 2016J01216) and the Science Foundation of Department of Education of Fujian Province (No. JA15067).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Multiscale Computational Materials Facility, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350100, China

    Qiong Peng, Kangming Hu, Baisheng Sa & Bo Wu

  2. Key Laboratory of Eco-Materials Advanced Technology (Fuzhou University), Fujian Province University, Fuzhou, 350100, China

    Qiong Peng, Kangming Hu, Baisheng Sa & Bo Wu

  3. School of Materials Science and Engineering, and Center for Integrated Computational Materials Engineering, International Research Institute for Multidisciplinary Science, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China

    Baisheng Sa, Jian Zhou & Zhimei Sun

  4. Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center of Efficient Green Energy and Environmental Protection Materials, School of Physics and Telecommunication Engineering, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510006, China

    Xianhua Hou

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  1. Qiong Peng
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Correspondence to Baisheng Sa, Bo Wu or Zhimei Sun.

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Unexpected elastic isotropy in a black phosphorene/TiC2 van der Waals heterostructure with flexible Li-ion battery anode applications

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Peng, Q., Hu, K., Sa, B. et al. Unexpected elastic isotropy in a black phosphorene/TiC2 van der Waals heterostructure with flexible Li-ion battery anode applications. Nano Res. 10, 3136–3150 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-017-1531-5

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