Conductive polypyrrole-promoted Li3V2(PO4)3 nanocomposite for rechargeable lithium energy storage

Abstract

Herein, we propose a facile method to fabricate conductive polypyrrole-enhanced Li3V2(PO4)3 (LVPO@PPy) composite via a sol-gel way assisted with a self-assembly procedure. The morphology, microstructure, phase structure and battery property for the resulted LVPO@PPy nanocomposite have been systematically investigated. The results demonstrate that the monoclinic structured Li3V2(PO4)3 (LVPO) particles are coated by a thin conductive polypyrrole. Electrochemical measurements indicate that the fabricated LVPO@PPy cathode possesses superior lithium storage performance than the pure LVPO. It can display the high capacities of 129.2 and 108.9 mAh/g at 0.2 and 10 C accordingly and exhibit a 97.5% capacity retention over 800 cycles at 20 C. Such an excellent batteries properties are ascribed to the synergistic effects of nanosized LVPO particles and conductive polypyrrole film, which can decrease the diffusion path for Li+ and promote the conductivity.