Towards Reversible High-Voltage Multi-Electron Reactions in Alkali-Ion Batteries Using Vanadium Phosphate Positive Electrode Materials

Vanadium phosphate positive electrode materials attract great interest in the field of Alkali-ion (Li, Na and K-ion) batteries due to their ability to store several electrons per transition metal. These multi-electron reactions (from V(2+) to V(5+)) combined with the high voltage of corresponding redox couples (e.g., 4.0 V vs. for V(3+)/V(4+) in Na(3)V(2)(PO(4))(2)F(3)) could allow the achievement the 1 kWh/kg milestone at the positive electrode level in Alkali-ion batteries. However, a massive divergence in the voltage reported for the V(3+)/V(4+) and V(4+)/V(5+) redox couples as a function of crystal structure is noticed. Moreover, vanadium phosphates that operate at high V(3+)/V(4+) voltages are usually unable to reversibly exchange several electrons in a narrow enough voltage range. Here, through the review of redox mechanisms and structural evolutions upon electrochemical operation of selected widely studied materials, we identify the crystallographic origin of this trend: the distribution of PO(4) groups around vanadium octahedra, that allows or prevents the formation of the vanadyl distortion (O(…)V(4+)=O or O(…)V(5+)=O). While the vanadyl entity massively lowers the voltage of the V(3+)/V(4+) and V(4+)/V(5+) couples, it considerably improves the reversibility of these redox reactions. Therefore, anionic substitutions, mainly O(2−) by F(−), have been identified as a strategy allowing for combining the beneficial effect of the vanadyl distortion on the reversibility with the high voltage of vanadium redox couples in fluorine rich environments.