Preparation and Characterization of Li_3V_2(PO_4)_3 Cathode Material for Lithium Ion Batteries

Monoclinic lithium vanadium phosphate Li3V2(PO4)3 is a very promising polyaniontype cathode material for lithium ion batteries. In this work, LiOH·H2O, V2O5, H3PO4 and sucrose(C12H22O11) were homogeneously mixed with certain molar ratios by ball-milling, and then sintered at 800℃for 16h in N2. The Li3V2(PO4)3 powders were finally synthesized via carbothermal reduction process. The structure and morphology of Li3V2(PO4)3 powders were characterized by XRD and SEM. At charge-discharge cut-off voltages of 3.0-4.3V and 3.0-4.8V, the material shows rather high specific capacity, excellent cycling performance and rate capability. At charge-discharge cut-off voltages of 1.5-4.8V, the material shows very high specific capacity but poor cycling performance.