Hollow–Cuboid Li₃VO₄/C as High-Performance Anodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Li3VO4 has been demonstrated to be a promising anode material for lithium-ion batteries with a low, safe voltage and large capacity. However, its poor electronic conductivity hinders its practical application particularly at a high rate. This work reports that Li3VO4 coated with carbon was synthesized by a one-pot, two-step method with F127 ((PEO)100-(PPO)65-(PEO)100) as both template and carbon source, yielding a microcuboid structure. The resulting Li3VO4/C cuboid shows a stable capacity of 415 mAh g(-1) at 0.5 C and excellent capacity stability at high rates (e.g., 92% capacity retention after 1000 cycles at 10 C = 4 A g(-1)). The lithiation/delithiation process of Li3VO4/C was studied by ex situ X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy, which confirmed that Li3VO4/C underwent a reversible intercalation reaction during discharge/charge processes. The excellent electrochemical performance is attributed largely to the unique microhollow structure. The voids inside hollow structure can not only provide more space to accommodate volume change during discharge/charge processes but also allow the lithium ions insertion and extraction from both outside and inside the hollow structure with a much larger surface area or more reaction sites and shorten the lithium ions diffusion distance, which leads to smaller overpotential and faster reaction kinetics. Carbon derived from F127 through pyrolysis coats Li3VO4 conformably and thus offers good electrical conduction. The results in this work provide convincing evidence that the significant potential of hollow-cuboid Li3VO4/C for high-power batteries.