Synthesis of Hierarchical Sisal-Like V2O5 with Exposed Stable {001} Facets as Long Life Cathode Materials for Advanced Lithium-Ion Batteries

Vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) is considered a promising cathode material for advanced lithium-ion batteries due to its high specific capacity and low cost. However, the application of V2O5-based electrodes has been hindered by their inferior conductivity, cycling stability and power performance. Herein, hierarchical sisal-like V2O5 microstructures consisting of primary one-dimension (1D) nanobelt with [001] facets orientation growth and rich oxygen vacancies are synthesized through a facile hydrothermal process using polyoxyethylene-20-cetyl-ether as surface control agent, and followed by calcination. The primary 1D nanobelt shortens the transfer path of electrons and ions, and the stable {001} facets could reduce the side reaction at the interface of electrode/electrolyte, simultaneously. Moreover, the formation of low valence state vanadium would generate the oxygen vacancies to facilitate the lithium ion diffusion. As a result, the sisal-like V2O5 manifests excellent electrochemical performances, including high specific capacity (297 mAh g(-1) at a current of 0.1 C) and robust cycling performance (capacity fading 0.06 % per cycle). This work develops a controllable method to craft the hierarchical sisal-like V2O5 microstructures with excellent high rate and long-term cyclic stability.