CoNb2O6 embedded in graphene nanosheets as an advanced intercalation anode for high-energy lithium-ion capacitors

Original scientific paper

Authors

  • Yaohong Hai School of Materials Science and Engineering, North Minzu University, Yinchuan, 750021, China https://orcid.org/0009-0001-7360-5874
  • Xu Zhang School of Materials Science and Engineering, North Minzu University, Yinchuan, 750021, China and Ningxia Research Center of Silicon Target and Silicon-Carbon Negative Materials Engineering Technology, China https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1944-6630
  • Fuyan Ma School of Materials Science and Engineering, North Minzu University, Yinchuan, 750021, China https://orcid.org/0009-0007-9943-5352
  • Yuxuan Chen School of Materials Science and Engineering, North Minzu University, Yinchuan, 750021, China https://orcid.org/0009-0006-8054-9600
  • Lixiong He School of Materials Science and Engineering, North Minzu University, Yinchuan, 750021, China https://orcid.org/0009-0002-7796-5305
  • Shiyi Zhang School of Materials Science and Engineering, North Minzu University, Yinchuan, 750021, China https://orcid.org/0009-0005-6662-9623
  • Chunping Hou School of Materials Science and Engineering, North Minzu University, Yinchuan, 750021, China and Ningxia Research Center of Silicon Target and Silicon-Carbon Negative Materials Engineering Technology, China https://orcid.org/0009-0007-4109-6503
  • Zhongli Zou School of Materials Science and Engineering, North Minzu University, Yinchuan, 750021, China and Ningxia Research Center of Silicon Target and Silicon-Carbon Negative Materials Engineering Technology, China https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1073-8845
  • Kui Cheng College of Engineering, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, 150030, China https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9396-1545

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5599/jese.2951

Keywords:

Binary metal niobium oxides, long cycle life, high energy density, lithium storage

Abstract

Intercalation anode materials are promising candidates for hybrid lithium-ion capacitors (LICs) owing to their excellent lithium storage capacity and cycling stability. In this study, a composite of CoNb2O6 embedded in graphene nanosheets (CoNb2O6@G) was synthesized via a two-step hydrothermal method and demonstrated for the first time as an intercalation anode material for lithium storage. The graphene sheets form a three-dimensional porous framework that provides abundant binding sites for the CoNb2O6 particles, effectively miti­gating particle agglomeration and volume expansion during charge-discharge cycles. The composite with the optimal graphene content of 100 mg (CoNb2O6@G-100mg) exhibited a remarkable reversible capacity of 508.5 mA h g-1 at a current density of 50 mA g-1. Furthe­rmore, the CoNb2O6@G-100mg//activated carbon (AC) LIC, in which CoNb2O6@G-100mg and AC are used as the anode and cathode, respectively, exhibited an energy density of 94.1 W h kg-1 and a maximum power density of 8750 W kg-1 within the voltage range of 0.0 to 3.5 V. The device demonstrated outstanding cycling stability, with negligible capacity loss (0.00255% per cycle) over 10,000 charge-discharge cycles. These results demonstrate the potential of CoNb2O6@G as a high-performance anode material for energy-storage devices, particularly in power-oriented applications.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

[1] J. Han, A. Hirata, J. Du, Y. Ito, T. Fujita, S. Kohara, T. Ina, M. Chen, Intercalation pseudocapacitance of amorphous titanium dioxide@nanoporous graphene for high-rate and large-capacity energy storage, Nano Energy 49 (2018) 354-362. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nanoen.2018.04.063

[2] J. Ding, H. Wang, Z. Li, K. Cui, D. Karpuzov, X. Tan, A. Kohandehghan, D. Mitlin, Peanut shell hybrid sodium ion capacitor with extreme energy-power rivals lithium ion capacitors, Energy & Environmental Science 8 (2015) 941-955. https://doi.org/10.1039/c4ee02986k

[3] J. Wang, X. Zhang, Q. Wei, H. Lv, Y. Tian, Z. Tong, X. Liu, J. Hao, H. Qu, J. Zhao, Y. Li, L. Mai, 3D self-supported nanopine forest-like Co3O4@CoMoO4 core-shell architectures for high-energy solid state supercapacitors, Nano Energy 19 (2016) 222-233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nanoen.2015.10.036

[4] Z. N. Ezhyeh, M. Khodaei, F. Torabi, Review on doping strategy in Li4Ti5O12 as an anode material for Lithium-ion batteries, Ceramics International 49 (2023) 7105-7141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2022.04.340

[5] Q. Pan, S. Zhang, B. Chen, S. Sun, F. Han, G. Meng, Fe2O3 nanoparticles encapsulated in the inner walls of integrated 3D carbon tube grid as high-performance anode for lithium-ion batteries, Journal of Power Sources 602 (2024) 234348. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2024.234348

[6] S. Ahn, Y. Nakamura, H. Nara, T. Momma, W. Sugimoto, T. Osaka, Application of Sn-Ni Alloy as an Anode for Lithium-Ion Capacitors with Improved Volumetric Energy and Power Density, Journal of The Electrochemical Society 166 (2019) A3615. https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0661915jes

[7] Q. Fu, X. Liu, J. Hou, Y. Pu, C. Lin, L. Yang, X. Zhu, L. Hu, S. Lin, L. Luo, Y. Chen, Highly conductive CrNb11O29 nanorods for use in high-energy, safe, fast-charging and stable lithium-ion batteries, Journal of Power Sources 397 (2018) 231-239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2018.07.020

[8] X. Zhu, Q. Fu, L. Tang, C. Lin, J. Xu, G. Liang, R. Li, L. Luo, Y. Chen, Mg2Nb34O87 Porous Microspheres for Use in High-Energy, Safe, Fast-Charging, and Stable Lithium-Ion Batteries, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 10 (2018) 23711-23720. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.8b03997

[9] Z. Yang, M. Zhang, Y. Liu, M. Jiang, Y. Sun, J. Wang, J. Xu, J. Liu, Composite of CoS1.97 nanoparticles decorated CuS hollow cubes with rGO as thin film electrode for high-performance all solid flexible supercapacitors, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 664 (2024) 691-703. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2024.03.083

[10] R. M. Bhattarai, K. Chhetri, N. Le, D. Acharya, S. Saud, M. C. H. P. L. Nguyen, S. J. Kim, Y. S. Mok, Oxygen functionalization‐assisted anionic exchange toward unique construction of flower‐like transition metal chalcogenide embedded carbon fabric for ultra‐long life flexible energy storage and conversion, Carbon Energy 6 (2023) e392. https://doi.org/10.1002/cey2.392

[11] A. C. Mendhe, A. Kore, S. D. Dhas, Y. Kim, R. Batool, A. Ghazal, D. Kim, High-performance supercapacitor electrodes: Hierarchical integration of bimetallic structures incorporating silver and copper phosphates with a 3D fernlike stellar dendritic architecture, Chemical Engineering Journal 489 (2024) 151168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2024.151168

[12] K. Li, X. Wang, S. Li, P. Urbankowski, J. Li, Y. Xu, Y. Gogotsi, An Ultrafast Conducting Polymer@MXene Positive Electrode with High Volumetric Capacitance for Advanced Asymmetric Supercapacitors, Small 16 (2020) e1906851. https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.201906851

[13] M. Kong, Y. Liu, B. Zhou, K. Yang, J. Tang, P. Zhang, W. H. Zhang, Rational Design of Sb@C@TiO2 Triple-Shell Nanoboxes for High-Performance Sodium-Ion Batteries, Small 16 (2020) e2001976. https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202001976.

[14] M. Wang, Z. Yang, W. Li, L. Gu, Y. Yu, Superior Sodium Storage in 3D Interconnected Nitrogen and Oxygen Dual-Doped Carbon Network, Small 12 (2016) 2559-2566. https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.201600101

[15] D. Hu, Y. Jia, S. Yang, C. Lin, F. Huang, R. Wu, S. Guo, K. Xie, P. Du, Hierarchical nanocomposites of redox covalent organic frameworks nanowires anchored on graphene sheets for super stability supercapacitor, Chemical Engineering Journal 488 (2024) 151160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2024.151160

[16] J. Liang, J. Xing, S. Guan, B. Zhang, X. Fu, Hierarchical CoNb2O6@CoOOH core-shell composite on carbon fabric for aqueous supercapacitor anode with high capacitance and super-long life, Electrochimica Acta 406 (2022) 139845. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2022.139845

[17] R. Ma, F. Cao, J. Wang, G. Zhu, G. Pang, Hydrothermal synthesis and phase stability of CoNb2O6 with a rutile structure, Materials Letters 65 (2011) 2880-2882. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2011.06.084

[18] Y. Xue, X. Guo, M. Wu, J. Chen, M. Duan, J. Shi, J. Zhang, F. Cao, Y. Liu, Q. Kong, Zephyranthes-like Co2NiSe4 arrays grown on 3D porous carbon frame-work as electrodes for advanced supercapacitors and sodium-ion batteries, Nano Research 14 (2021) 3598-3607. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-021-3640-4

[19] Y. Luo, W. Que, Y. Tang, Y. Kang, X. Bin, Z. Wu, B. Yuliarto, B. Gao, J. Henzie, Y. Yamauchi, Regulating Functional Groups Enhances the Performance of Flexible Microporous MXene/Bacterial Cellulose Electrodes in Supercapacitors, ACS Nano 18 (2024) 11675-11687. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.3c11547

[20] Y. Wang, S. Chou, D. Wexler, H. Liu, S. Dou, High‐Performance Sodium‐Ion Batteries and Sodium‐Ion Pseudocapacitors Based on MoS2/Graphene Composites, Chemistry - A European Journal 20 (2014) 9607-9612. https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.201402563

[21] Z. Zhang, Y. Fu, X. Yang, Y. Qu, Z. Zhang, Hierarchical MoSe2 Nanosheets/Reduced Graphene Oxide Composites as Anodes for Lithium‐Ion and Sodium‐Ion Batteries with Enhanced Electrochemical Performance, Chemnanomat 1 (2015) 409-414. https://doi.org/10.1002/cnma.201500097

[22] F. Huang, Q. Zhou, L. Li, X. Huang, D. Xu, F. Li, T. Cui, Structural Transition of MnNb2O6 under Quasi-Hydrostatic Pressure, The Journal of Physical Chemistry C 118 (2014) 19280-19286. https://doi.org/10.1021/jp503542y

[23] D. L. Rousseau, R. P. Bauman, S. P. S. Porto, Normal mode determination in crystals, Journal of Raman Spectroscopy 10 (1981) 253-290. https://doi.org/10.1002/jrs.1250100152

[24] E. Husson, Y. Repelin, N. Q. Dao, H. Brusset, Normal coordinate analysis for CaNb2O6 of columbite structure, The Journal of Chemical Physics 66 (1977) 5173-5180. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.433780

[25] J. Wang, Y. Huang, X. Du, S. Zhang, M. Zong, Hollow 1D carbon tube core anchored in Co3O4@SnS2 multiple shells for constructing binder-free electrodes of flexible supercapacitors, Chemical Engineering Journal 464 (2023) 142741. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2023.142741

[26] M. Zhang, H. Fan, N. Zhao, H. Peng, X. Ren, W. Wang, H. Li, G. Chen, Y. Zhu, X. Jiang, P. Wu, 3D hierarchical CoWO4/Co3O4 nanowire arrays for asymmetric supercapacitors with high energy density, Chemical Engineering Journal 347 (2018) 291-300. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2018.04.113

[27] T. Wang, T. Ma, T. Ge, S. Shi, H. Ji, W. Li, G. Yang, Synthesis of MnNb2O6 with hierarchical structure as a novel electrode material for high-performance supercapacitors, Journal of Alloys and Compounds 750 (2018) 428-435. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2018.04.031

[28] J. Wu, J. Wang, H. Li, Y. Li, Y. Du, Y. Yang, X. Jia, Surface activation of MnNb2O6 nanosheets by oxalic acid for enhanced photocatalysis, Applied Surface Science 403 (2017) 314-325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2017.01.170

[29] A. Lakshmi-Narayana, N. Attarzadeh, V. Shutthanandan, C. V. Ramana, High-Performance NiCo2O4/Graphene Quantum Dots for Asymmetric and Symmetric Supercapacitors with Enhanced Energy Efficiency, Advanced Functional Materials 34 (2024) 2316379. https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202316379

[30] C. Zhang, Y. Xu, G. Du, Y. Wu, Y. Li, H. Zhao, U. Kaiser, Y. Lei, Oxygen-functionalized soft carbon nanofibers as high-performance cathode of K-ion hybrid capacitor, Nano Energy 72 (2020) 104661. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nanoen.2020.104661

[31] C. Yang, Y. Zhang, F. Lv, C. Lin, Y. Liu, K. Wang, J. Feng, X. Wang, Y. Chen, J. Li, S. Guo, Porous ZrNb24O62 nanowires with pseudocapacitive behavior achieve high-performance lithium-ion storage, Journal of Materials Chemistry A 5 (2017) 22297-22304. https://doi.org/10.1039/c7ta07347j

[32] T. Liu, P. Li, N. Yao, T. Kong, G. Cheng, S. Chen, W. Luo, Self-Sacrificial Template-Directed Vapor-Phase Growth of MOF Assemblies and Surface Vulcanization for Efficient Water Splitting, Advanced Materials 31 (2019) e1806672. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201806672

[33] Y. Wang, H. Tang, Q. Xie, J. Liu, S. Sun, M. Zhou, Y. Zhang, pH-Regulated host-guest architecture in molybdenum Dioxide/Carbon sphere composites for flexible solid-state supercapacitors, Chemical Engineering Journal 481 (2024) 148558. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2024.148558

[34] G. Wang, R. Zhang, H. Zhang, K. Cheng, Aqueous MXene inks for inkjet-printing microsupercapacitors with ultrahigh energy densities, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 645 (2023) 359-370. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2023.04.155

[35] Y. Long, X. An, H. Zhang, J. Yang, L. Liu, Z. Tian, G. Yang, Z. Cheng, H. Cao, H. Liu, Y. Ni, Highly graphitized lignin-derived porous carbon with hierarchical N/O co-doping “core-shell” superstructure supported by metal-organic frameworks for advanced supercapacitor performance, Chemical Engineering Journal 451 (2023) 138877. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2022.138877

[36] R. Chen, X. Cai, X. He, X. Hong, Y. Liu, J.-K. So, B. Wang, Y. Zhou, L. Cheng, Z. Shen, High mass-loading CoO@NiCo-LDH//FeNiS flexible supercapacitor with high energy density and fast kinetics, Chemical Engineering Journal 484 (2024) 149736. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2024.149736

[37] H. Zhang, X. Zhang, H. Li, Y. Gao, J. Yan, K. Zhu, K. Ye, K. Cheng, G. Wang, D. Cao, Copper niobate nanowires immobilized on reduced graphene oxide nanosheets as rate capability anode for lithium ion capacitor, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 583 (2021) 652-660. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2020.09.076

[38] J. Gao, Z. Zhuang, X. Zhou, H. Xu, X. Xu, W. Li, Reversible Mn2+/Mn4+ and Mn4+/Mn6+ double-electron redoxes in heterostructure MnS2/MnSe2@HCMs boost high energy storage for hybrid supercapacitors, Chemical Engineering Journal 485 (2024) 149520. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2024.149520

[39] S. Yuvaraj, K. Karthikeyan, D. Kalpana, Y. S. Lee, R. K. Selvan, Surfactant-free hydrothermal synthesis of hierarchically structured spherical CuBi2O4 as negative electrodes for Li-ion hybrid capacitors, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 469 (2016) 47-56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2016.01.060.

[40] J. Li, X. Zhang, R. Peng, Y. Huang, L. Guo, Y. Qi, LiMn2O4/graphene composites as cathodes with enhanced electrochemical performance for lithium-ion capacitors, RSC Advances 6 (2016) 54866-54873. https://doi.org/10.1039/c6ra09103b

[41] F. Wang, C. Wang, Y. Zhao, Z. Liu, Z. Chang, L. Fu, Y. Zhu, Y. Wu, D. Zhao, A Quasi-Solid-State Li-Ion Capacitor Based on Porous TiO2 Hollow Microspheres Wrapped with Graphene Nanosheets, Small 12 (2016) 6207-6213. https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.201602331

[42] V. Aravindan, J. Sundaramurthy, A. Jain, P. S. Kumar, W. C. Ling, S. Ramakrishna, M. P. Srinivasan, S. Madhavi, Unveiling TiNb2O7 as an insertion anode for lithium ion capacitors with high energy and power density, ChemSusChem 7 (2014) 1858-1863. https://doi.org/10.1002/cssc.201400157

[43] L. Ye, Q. Liang, Y. Lei, X. Yu, C. Han, W. Shen, Z. Huang, F. Kang, Q. Yang, A high performance Li-ion capacitor constructed with Li4Ti5O12/C hybrid and porous graphene macroform, Journal of Power Sources 282 (2015) 174-178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2015.02.028

[44] J. H. Lee, H. K. Kim, E. Baek, M. Pecht, S. H. Lee, Y. H. Lee, Improved performance of cylindrical hybrid supercapacitor using activated carbon/niobium doped hydrogen titanate, Journal of Power Sources 301 (2016) 348-354. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2015.09.113

[45] P. Yu, G. Cao, S. Yi, X. Zhang, C. Li, X. Sun, K. Wang, Y. Ma, Binder-free 2D titanium carbide (MXene)/carbon nanotube composites for high-performance lithium-ion capacitors, Nanoscale 10 (2018) 5906-5913. https://doi.org/10.1039/c8nr00380g

Downloads

Published

10-11-2025

Issue

Vol. 16 (2026)

Section

Batteries and supercapacitors

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Yaohong Hai, Xu Zhang, Fuyan Ma, Yuxuan Chen, Lixiong He, Shiyi Zhang, Chunping Hou, Zhongli Zou, Kui Cheng

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

CoNb2O6 embedded in graphene nanosheets as an advanced intercalation anode for high-energy lithium-ion capacitors: Original scientific paper. (2025). Journal of Electrochemical Science and Engineering, 16, Article 2951. https://doi.org/10.5599/jese.2951

Funding data