Novel synthesis of V2O5 hollow microspheres for lithium ion batteries

Abstract

In this work, hollow structured V2O5 microspheres were fabricated from solid vanadium precursor microspheres which were prepared by microwave-assisted, solvothermal approach. In the annealing process, the spherical precursor microspheres can be converted into hollow microspheres, serving as a sacrificial template. The synthesis approach is quite different from the previously reported approaches for the preparation of hollow structured V2O5 microspheres. As cathode materials for lithium ion batteries, the hollow-structured V2O5 microspheres exhibit high capacity and good rate capability. The electrodes deliver specific discharge capacities of 132 and 113 mA h g−1 at the current densities of 1 C and 8 C, respectively.