Facile one-pot hydrothermal synthesis of belt-like β-v6O13 with rectangular cross sections for Li-ion battery application

Belt-like orthorhombic V6O13 (beta-V6O13) with rectangular cross sections were successfully synthesized using V2O5, ethanol and H2O as the starting materials by a facile one-pot hydrothermal route. The chemical composition, morphology and electrochemical performances of the sample were briefly discussed. The results show the synthesized beta-V6O13 consists of a large quantity of uniform micro- and nano-structures with typical lengths up to several tens of micrometers, widths about several ten nanometers to several hundred nanometers, and thicknesses about several ten nanometers. The electrochemical properties of beta-V6O13 showed it exhibited a high initial discharge capacity of 335 mAh/g and the capacity retention rate was 73.1% after 75 cycles. The excellent discharge capacities and cycling performance demonstrate the great potential of belt-like beta-V6O13 with rectangular cross sections in next-generation high-performance energy storage applications. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.