Abstract
Vanadium pentoxide (V2O5)-anchored single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) composites have been developed through a simple sol–gel process, followed by hydrothermal treatment. The resulting material is suitable for use in flexible ultra-high capacity electrode applications for lithium-ion batteries. The unique combination of V2O5 with 0.2 wt.% of SWCNT offers a highly conductive three-dimensional network. This ultimately alleviates the low lithium-ion intercalation seen in V2O5 itself and facilitates vanadium redox reactions. The integration of SWCNTs into the layered structure of V2O5 leads to a high specific capacity of 390 mAhg−1 at 0.1 C between 1.8 to 3.8 V, which is close to the theoretical capacity of V2O5 (443 mAhg−1). In recent research, most of the V2O5 with carbonaceous materials shows higher specific capacity but limited cyclability and poor rate capability. In this work, good cyclability with only 0.3% per cycle degradation during 200 cycles and enhanced rate capability of 178 mAhg−1 at 10 C have been achieved. The excellent electrochemical kinetics during lithiation/delithiation is attributed to the chemical interaction of SWCNTs entrapped between layers of the V2O5 nanostructured network. Proper dispersion of SWCNTs into the V2O5 structure, and its resulting effects, have been validated by SEM, TEM, XPS, XRD, and electrical resistivity measurements. This innovative hybrid material offers a new direction for the large-scale production of high-performance cathode materials for advanced flexible and structural battery applications.
Highlights
Over the past decade, lithium-ion batteries have been significantly improved to achieve higher capacities and life cycle
(-OH) groups and the peak shifting to the lower binding-energy field further indicate that the nanoparticles of V2 O5 might be properly associating with the single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) surfaces, either via V–O–C or van der Waals forces [49]
High magnification FESEM images reveal that nanosheets with porous and rugged surfaces are interlinked by ample SWCNTs and V2 O5 particles in an ordered arrangement
Summary
Lithium-ion batteries have been significantly improved to achieve higher capacities and life cycle. The major issues that hamper it in attaining the theoretical specific capacity or higher energy density by V2 O5 in practical lithium-ion battery applications are low electron conductivity of the V2 O5 nanoribbons, slow diffusion rate, and irreversible phase transitions upon deep discharge [26,27,28,29]. To overcome these challenges, conductive materials such as graphene, copper and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been incorporated into the V2 O5 structure using direct mixing [30,31]. Complete formation of vanadium oxide hydrogel, which is later freeze-dried under vacuum to produce a V2 O5 xerogel
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