Abstract
Niobates are very promising anode materials for Li(+)-storage rooted in their good safety and high capacities. However, the exploration of niobate anode materials is still insufficient. In this work, we explore ~1 wt% carbon-coated CuNb(13)O(33) microparticles (C-CuNb(13)O(33)) with a stable shear ReO(3) structure as a new anode material to store Li(+). C-CuNb(13)O(33) delivers a safe operation potential (~1.54 V), high reversible capacity of 244 mAh g(-1), and high initial-cycle Coulombic efficiency of 90.4% at 0.1C. Its fast Li(+) transport is systematically confirmed through galvanostatic intermittent titration technique and cyclic voltammetry, which reveal an ultra-high average Li(+) diffusion coefficient (~5 × 10(-11) cm(2) s(-1)), significantly contributing to its excellent rate capability with capacity retention of 69.4%/59.9% at 10C/20C relative to 0.5C. An in-situ XRD test is performed to analyze crystal-structural evolutions of C-CuNb(13)O(33) during lithiation/delithiation, demonstrating its intercalation-type Li(+)-storage mechanism with small unit-cell-volume variations, which results in its capacity retention of 86.2%/92.3% at 10C/20C after 3000 cycles. These comprehensively good electrochemical properties indicate that C-CuNb(13)O(33) is a practical anode material for high-performance energy-storage applications.