Nitrogen doped, carbon coated (Zn0.71Mn0.29)Se/MnSe heterostructure as an anode for a fast-charging sodium ion battery

Nitrogen-doped, carbon-coated (Zn0.71Mn0.29)Se/MnSe porous nanospheres (Zn–Mn–Se@NC) were designed via a co-precipitation method and a vapor-phase selenization strategy, which maintained a capacity of 290 mAh/g for 5 A/g after 1000 cycles and 190 mAh/g at 10 A/g. The satisfied cycling performance was due to the porous nanosphere that relieve volume effect of electrode. Furthermore, the heterogeneous interface formed by (Zn0.71Mn0.29)Se and MnSe enhances thermodynamic stability and electrochemical reaction kinetics considerably, improving the electron/Na+ transfer rate. Furthermore, Zn–Mn–Se@NC, a bimetallic selenide, exhibits superior conductivity that improves the rate capacity of the Zn–Mn–Se@NC electrode. As an anode, the long-cycle and high-rate sodium-ion batteries using the Zn–Mn–Se@NC porous nanospheres have potential applications in electronic devices.