High‐entropy chemistry stabilizing spinel oxide (CoNiZnXMnLi) 3 O 4 (X = Fe, Cr) for high‐performance anode of Li‐ion batteries

Abstract High entropy oxides (HEOs), as a new type of single‐phase multielement solid solution materials, have shown many attractive features and promising application prospect in the energy storage field. Herein, six‐element HEOs (CoNiZnFeMnLi) 3 O 4 and (CoNiZnCrMnLi) 3 O 4 with spinel structure are successfully prepared by conventional solid‐phase method and present outstanding lithium storage performances due to the synergy effect of various electrochemically active elements and the entropy stabilization. By contrast, (CoNiZnFeMnLi) 3 O 4 delivers higher initial discharge specific capacity of 1104.3 mAh·g −1 , better cycle stability (84% capacity retention after 100 cycles at 100 mA·g −1 ) and rate performance (293 mAh·g −1 at 2000 mA·g −1 ) in the half‐cell. Moreover, the full‐cell assembled with (CoNiZnFeMnLi) 3 O 4 and LiCoO 2 provides a reversible specific capacity of 260.2 mAh·g −1 after 100 cycles at 500 mA·g −1 . Ex situ X‐ray diffraction reveals the electrochemical reaction mechanism of HEOs (CoNiZnFeMnLi) 3 O 4 , and the amorphous phase and the large amount of oxygen vacancies were obtained after the initial discharge process, which are responsible for the excellent cycle and rate performance. This research puts forward fresh insights for the development of advanced energy storage materials for high‐performance batteries.