As a sustainable cathode material for sodium-ion batteries, Na4MnFe(PO4)3 (NMFP) is prized for high theoretical operating voltage and cost-effectiveness. However, its practical electrochemical activity is notoriously poor, contradicting theoretical predictions. Here, we reveal that this inactivity stems primarily from Mott localization, driven by strong electron correlations within the high-spin 3d5 electronic configuration (t2g 3eg 2) of Mn2+ and Fe3+. This symmetric, half-filled state leads to pronounced charge localization, severely suppressing the intrinsic redox activity. To address this limitation, we devised a symmetry-breaking reconstruction strategy which reorganizes the spin ordering to promote electron delocalization and activates multiple redox couples (Mn4+/Mn3+, Mn3+/Mn2+, and Fe3+/Fe2+). More critically, induce a novel "Na2 dp Na1" migration path for Na+, with a remarkably lower energy barrier than those of conventional paths (0.39 vs. 0.98 eV). Consequently, the engineered Na4Mn0.5Fe0.5Cr0.5Ti0.5(PO4)3 delivers 138.84 mAh g-1 at 0.1C, which represents a 12.74-fold breakthrough over the pristine NMFP (10.9 mAh g-1). Our findings elucidate symmetry-breaking as a critical route for activating Mott-localized states in polyanionic frameworks and establish a new paradigm for designing redox-active and sustainable cathode materials.
Wang et al. (Tue,) studied this question.
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