Advanced lithium/fluorinated carbon secondary batteries realized by nickel-catalysis strategy

The exceptional energy density and stability of fluorinated carbon (CF x ) cathode materials have shone brightly in the field of Li primary batteries. However, the development of Li/CF x secondary batteries has hit a bottleneck due to the high dissociation energy and band gap energy of LiF. Herein, a fluorinated biomass hard carbon (FTS/Ni), with Ni functional layer rich in catalytic active sites deposited on CF x surface via magnetron sputtering, is synthesized, showing high reversibility of lithium ions storage. FTS/Ni cathode with 1.5 wt% Ni content exhibits high capacity of 250 mAh g −1 within voltage window of 1.5–5.0 V. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations confirm that Ni catalyst could reduce the dissociation energy of LiF, accelerating the conversion kinetics of LiF, thereby enhancing the secondary electrochemical performance of Li/CF x batteries. This work demonstrates that the reversibility of LiF within the voltage window of 1.5–5.0 V can be achieved through Ni catalytic action, pointing out a promising direction for the secondary rechargeability of Li/CF x batteries. • Ni nano catalysts accelerate LiF decomposition. • FTS/Ni-1.5 % exhibits excellent secondary electrochemical performance. • DFT calculation demonstrated Ni nano catalysts decreased LiF dissociation energy.