Self-Assembled 3D Hierarchical Porous Bi₂MoO₆ Microspheres toward High Capacity and Ultra-Long-Life Anode Material for Li-Ion Batteries

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical porous Bi₂MoO₆ microspheres (HPBMs) were successfully prepared and used as the anode material in Li-ion batteries (LIBs) for the first time. The HPBMs showed a high capacity (>830 mAh·g^-1, 734.5 mAh·cm^-2), high rate capability (20 A·g^-1, 177.7 mAh·g^-1), and superior long cycle life (>2700 cycles) in the temperature range 5-55 °C without adding any other conductive carbon materials, such as graphene and carbon nanotubes. This can be reasonably attributed to their substantially high surface area, 3D hierarchical porous structure, and homogeneous conductive matrix composed of metallic nanoparticles. HPBMs surprisingly showed a high reversible discharge capacity of 537.2 mAh·g^-1 (475.4 mAh·cm^-2) and an average discharge voltage >3.0 V even when coupled with LiCoO₂ in a full cell. The results highlight the feasibility of HPBMs as anode material for LIBs.