Superior Pseudocapacitive Lithium-Ion Storage in Porous Vanadium Oxides@C Heterostructure Composite

Vanadium oxides are promising anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to their high capacity, good safety, and low cost. However, their practical application has been deferred by the poor rate capability and cycling stability. In this work, we report the designed synthesis of porous V2O3/VO2@carbon heterostructure electrode for high-performance LIBs. The synergic effects of porous nanostructures, phase hybridization with self-building electric field at heterointerface, and conductive carbon implantation effectively enhance the electronic/ionic conduction and buffer the volume variation in the composite material. Electrochemical tests reveal that the composite electrode exhibits high Li-ion storage capacities of 503 and 453 mAh/g at 100 and 500 mA/g, as well as good cycling stability with a retained capacity of 569 mAh/g over 105 cycles at 100 mA/g. In-depth kinetics analysis discloses that pseudocapacitive Li-ion storage process dominates in the composite electrode, which is probably enabled by efficient coupling of the heterostructure components. The strategy of in situ carbon implantation and phase hybridization presented herein may be extended to other electrode materials for rechargeable batteries with superior electrochemical properties.