A quick microwave-assisted rheological phase reaction route for preparing Cu3Mo2O9 with excellent lithium storage and supercapacitor performance

Highlights: • A fast and simple microwave-assisted rheological phase reaction route is designed to prepare Cu₃Mo₂O₉. • The as-prepared Cu₃Mo₂O₉ achieves a higher discharge capacity with stable cycling performance in LIBs. • The contribution in LIBs is analyzed by the CV at various scan rate in detail. • The electrode also shows 136.3 F g^-1 after 1000 cycles. -- Abstract: Synthesis strategy plays a vital role in the physical and chemical properties of materials. In this study, a quick and simple microwave-assisted rheological phase reaction route is designed to prepare Cu₃Mo₂O₉. The phase, composite and morphology of the as-prepared sample are characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectrometer and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. The formation time of the precursor is reduced to only 10 min and a pure phase Cu₃Mo₂O₉ can be obtained at a relatively low heated temperature (500 °C). Crystallite size is estimated from X-ray line profile fitting to be 53.5 nm. As anode of lithium half-cell, the as-prepared Cu₃Mo₂O₉ achieves a higher discharge capacity with stable cycling performance (554.6 mAhg^-1 after 350 cycles), excellent rate capability and diffusion kinetics. The capacity contribution is analyzed by cyclic voltammetry at various scan rates in detail. For supercapacitor application, the electrode also shows a high specific capacitance with good cyclability (136.3 F g^-1 after 1000 cycles). This work not only opens up an efficient avenue to prepare efficient inorganic materials, but also suggests a prospective material for energy storage devices.