Royal Society of Chemistry, Journal of Materials Chemistry, 38(22), p. 20535, 2012
DOI: 10.1039/c2jm33862a
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The electrochemical properties of Na3V2(PO4)(2)F-3 in a Na rechargeable battery were investigated through a combined computational and experimental study. Ex situ XRD results indicate that the reversible sodiation/desodiation occurs via one phase reaction and the structure of Na3-xV2(PO4)(2)F-3 remains quite stable upon extraction and insertion of sodium. Notable is that the one phase reaction is accompanied by the negligible variation in lattice parameters (similar to 1%) and unit cell volume (similar to 2%) which results in a good cycle performance. It is further noticed that the desodiated phase is thermally stable up to 550 degrees C implying the excellent safety characteristic of the charged electrode. The first principles calculations elucidate the mechanisms of the structural evolution and the electrochemical behavior of Na3-xV2(PO4)(2)F-3 upon battery cycling.