High Capacity and Rate Capability Binder-less Ternary Transition Metal-organic Framework as Anode Material for Lithium-ion Battery

Abstract

A novel metal-organic framework (MOF) composition containing three cations (CoCuNi−MOF) grown directly on nickel foam substrate has been evaluated for its use as an anode material for lithium ion batteries (LIB) and benchmarked the performance with its single cation MOF counterparts. Equimolar concentrations of cobalt, copper, and nickel and 1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid are used as metal centers and organic linker, respectively, for synthesis of CoCuNi−MOF. The morphology, chemical structure, and electrochemical properties of the materials are studied and analyzed for their suitability for lithium ion storage. The cyclability performance of CoCuNi−MOF exhibit good behavior with retaining ∼490 (±3) and ∼396 (±3) mA⋅h⋅g−1 at ∼200 and ∼500 mA⋅g−1, respectively. During rate capability evaluation, CoCuNi−MOF proved to be the best material compared to its single component MOF: CoCuNi−MOF retained an average capacity of ∼565 (±3) mA⋅h⋅g−1 at current density as high as 1000 mA⋅g−1. The positive attributes of CoCuNi−MOF are shown to arise from the synergistic effect of the three transition metals. The output from this work is expected to provide useful insight into the design of new MOFs electrode for LIBs with high specific capacity and improved cycle stability. © 2020 Wiley-VCH GmbH