Mg <sup>2+</sup> Aliovalent Substitution Coupled Proton‐Tuned Desolvation for NH <sub>4</sub> <sup>+</sup> Storage Enhancement in α‐MoO <sub>3</sub>
Aqueous NH<sub>4</sub> <sup>+</sup> storage holds great promise but is hindered by its strongly hydrated shell, which elevates the desolvation barrier. Notably, α-MoO<sub>3</sub> stands out for its layered structure and multivalent redox activity, yet its wide bandgap significantly slows down interfacial reactivity. To tackle these challenges, we propose a strategy by integrating host material coupled with electrolyte design. Specifically, Mg<sup>2+</sup> aliovalent substitution could optimize α-MoO<sub>3</sub> band structure, thereby enhancing its electronic conductivity. Meanwhile, the introduction of a proton-enriched electrolyte disrupts the NH<sub>4</sub> <sup>+</sup> solvation shell and reduces the desolvation barrier. Remarkably, the optimized electrode delivers a specific capacity of 239.2 mAh g<sup>-1</sup> at 2 A g<sup>-1</sup> with a capacity retention of 87.8% after 5000 cycles. Moreover, the assembled aqueous symmetric device delivers a high-energy density of 46.7 Wh kg<sup>-1</sup> at 800.6 W kg<sup>-1</sup>. In situ/ex situ characterizations and DFT calculations reveal a synergistic NH<sub>4</sub> <sup>+</sup>/H<sup>+</sup> costorage mechanism in MMO-A, involving reversible Mo<sup>6+</sup>/Mo<sup>5+</sup> transitions, MoO bond evolution and dynamic MoOH formation, as well as increased NH<sub>4</sub> <sup>+</sup> adsorption energy and interfacial charge transfer. This work offers insightful design principles and application prospects for advanced aqueous NH<sub>4</sub> <sup>+</sup> storage systems.
Authors
- Degao Wang
- Zheng Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-8971-0567)
- Yue Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4668-8827)
- Fujun Niu
- Zhaoqin Chu
- Xu Han
- Xun Chen
Institutions
- Liaoning University (CN)
- Sun Yat-sen University (CN)
- Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (CN)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Advanced Energy (United States) (US)
- Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy (CN)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Ningbo Institute of Industrial Technology (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- ChemSusChem
- Published
- 2026-02-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/cssc.202502285
- Primary Topic
- Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00