Crystalline-amorphous core-shell copper vanadate coralline as anode material for high-performance lithium-ion battery

Abstract

Constructing electrode materials with core-shell structures is considered an effective strategy to enhance the electrochemical performance of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) anode. Herein, a novel amorphous copper vanadium oxide coated crystalline copper vanadates was designed and synthesized through a template transformation route. The copper vanadates showed a three-dimension coralline morphology assembled by nanoparticles. When applied to the LIBs anode, the as-prepared electrode exhibited a large reversible capacity (967 mAh g−1), superior rate performance (390 mAh g−1 at 5 A g−1), and cycle stability (98.2% retention after 200 cycles). This enhanced lithium storage was related to the synergistic effect of the amorphous buffer layer and abundant oxygen vacancies that could buffer volume expansion and promote the pseudo-capacitance behavior.