Sol-gel synthesis of Li3VO4/C composites as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries

TL;DR

This study develops Li3VO4/C composites via sol-gel synthesis, demonstrating that organic additives influence morphology and electrochemical performance, with some composites showing high capacity and stability as lithium-ion battery anodes.

Contribution

It introduces a sol-gel method to synthesize Li3VO4/C composites with controlled morphology and improved electrochemical properties for lithium-ion batteries.

Findings

Mesoporous structure enhances electrochemical activity.

Glucose-derived composites show superior cycling stability.

Initial capacity around 400 mAh g-1 with 96% retention after 100 cycles.

Abstract

Li3VO4/C composites have been synthesized by a sol-gel method and post-annealing at 650 {\deg}C for 1 h in N2 flow using either tartaric acid, malic acid, or glucose as both chelating agents and carbon source. The presence of these organic additives crucially affects morphology and crystallite size of the final product. It is found that the electrochemical properties of Li3VO4/C as anode material for Li-ion batteries (LIBs) are influenced by the morphology, texture and carbon content of the material. When using carboxylic acids as carbon source composites with mesoporous structure and a high surface area are obtained that display an enhanced electrochemical activity. Initially, reversible capacity of about 400 mAh g-1 is obtained. In contrast, Li3VO4/C synthesized with glucose outperforms in terms of cycling stability. It exhibits a discharge capacity of 299 mAh g-1 after 100 cycles corresponding to an excellent capacity retention of 96 %. The favorable effect of carbon composites on the electrochemical performance of Li3VO4 is shown.