Ultrafast Synthesis of Layered Transition-Metal Oxide Cathodes from Metal-Organic Frameworks for High-Capacity Sodium-Ion Batteries.

Layered transition-metal oxides are promising candidate cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries due to their abundant raw materials and high theoretical capacity. Nevertheless, a long-time high-temperature heat treatment is required in traditional preparation methods, leading to low synthesis efficiency and waste of energy. Herein, an ultrafast preparation method of layered transition-metal oxides was proposed through minute calcination of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). The homogeneous distribution of different atoms in MOFs allows fast phase transition during the calcination process. P'2-phase layered sodium manganese oxide was successfully obtained and demonstrated excellent electrochemical performance, with a high reversible capacity of 212 mA h g-1 and a cycling performance of 84% capacity retention after 100 cycles. Furthermore, this method can be expanded to a wide variety of MOF precursors and oxide electrode materials for different types of batteries. Our findings provide an efficient and cost-effective synthesis method for high-performance layered transition-metal oxide cathodes.