One-dimensional Li3VO4/carbon fiber composites for enhanced electrochemical performance as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries

Abstract

Lithium vanadium oxide (Li3VO4) has gained attention as an alternative anode material because of its higher theoretical capacity (592 mAh g−1), moderate ionic conductivity (∼10−4 S cm−1), and lower working voltage range (∼0.5–1.0 V vs. Li/Li+) in comparison to other metal oxides. However, there are disadvantages to using Li3VO4 as an anode material, such as low initial Coulombic efficiency and poor rate performance that is attributed to its low electronic conductivity (<10−10 S cm−1). In the present study, the synthesis of one-dimensional Li3VO4 electrode was performed via a facile method by using oxidized vapor grown carbon fiber as a template and the formation of the outer shells of conductive carbon via chemical vapor deposition technique. In a half-cell configuration, the prepared Li3VO4 composites exhibited an enhanced electrochemical performance with a reversible capacity of 516.2 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles at a rate of 0.5 C within the voltage range of 0.01–3.0 V. At a high rate of 5 C, a large reversible capacity of 322.6 mAh g−1 was also observed after 500 cycles. The full cell (LVO/VGCF16-C||LiCoO2) using LiCoO2 as the cathode showed competitive electrochemical performance, which demonstrates its high potential in commercial applications.