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  1. Abstract

    Lithium intercalation of MoS2is generally believed to introduce a phase transition from H phase (semiconducting) to T phase (metallic). However, during the intercalation process, a spatially sharp boundary is usually formed between the fully intercalated T phase MoS2and non-intercalated H phase MoS2. The intermediate state,i.e., lightly intercalated H phase MoS2without a phase transition, is difficult to investigate by optical-microscope-based spectroscopy due to the narrow size. Here, we report the stabilization of the intermediate state across the whole flake of twisted bilayer MoS2. The twisted bilayer system allows the lithium to intercalate from the top surface and enables fast Li-ion diffusion by the reduced interlayer interaction. TheE2gRaman mode of the intermediate state shows a peak splitting behavior. Our simulation results indicate that the intermediate state is stabilized by lithium-induced symmetry breaking of the H phase MoS2. Our results provide an insight into the non-uniform intercalation during battery charging and discharging, and also open a new opportunity to modulate the properties of twisted 2D systems with guest species doping in the Moiré structures.

     
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  2. Abstract

    The practical implementation of Li metal batteries is hindered by difficulties in controlling the Li metal plating microstructure. While previous atomic layer deposition (ALD) studies have focused on directly coating Li metal with thin films for the passivation of the electrode–electrolyte interface, a different approach is adopted, situating the ALD film beneath Li metal and directly on the copper current collector. A mechanistic explanation for this simple strategy of controlling the Li metal plating microstructure using TiO2grown on copper foil by ALD is presented. In contrast to previous studies where ALD‐grown layers act as artificial interphases, this TiO2layer resides at the copper–Li metal interface, acting as a nucleation layer to improve the Li metal plating morphology. Upon lithiation of TiO2, a LixTiO2complex forms; this alloy provides a lithiophilic surface layer that enables uniform and reversible Li plating. The reversibility of lithium deposition is evident from the champion cell (5 nm TiO2), which displays an average Coulombic efficiency (CE) of 96% after 150 cycles at a moderate current density of 1 mA cm−2. This simple approach provides the first account of the mechanism of ALD‐derived Li nucleation control and suggests new possibilities for future ALD‐synthesized nucleation layers.

     
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