Adjusting Crystal Orientation to Promote Sodium-Ion Transport in V5S8@Graphene Anode Materials for High-Performance Sodium-Ion Batteries

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have inspired the potential for widespread use in energy storage owing to the advantages of abundant resources and low cost. Benefiting from the layered structure, 2D-layered materials enable fast interlayer transport of sodium ions and thus are considered promising candidates as anodes for SIBs. Herein, a strategy of adjusting crystal orientation is proposed via a solvothermal method to improve sodium-ion transport at the edge of the interlayers in 2D-layered materials. By introducing surfactants and templates, the 2D-layered V5S8 nanosheets are controlled to align the interlayer diffusion channels vertically to the surface, which promotes the fast transport of Na+ at the edge of the interlayers as revealed by experimental methods and ab initio calculations. Benefiting from the aligned crystal orientation and rGO coating, the vertical-V5S8@rGO hybrid delivers a high initial discharge capacity of 350.6 mAh g(-1) at a high current density of 15 A g(-1). This work provides a strategy for the structural design of 2D-layered anode materials by adjusting crystal orientation, which demonstrates the promise for applications in fast-charging alkaline-ion batteries.