Synthesis and electrochemical performance of 0.6Li3V2(PO4)3·0.4Li–V–O composite cathode material for lithium ion batteries.

A novel 0.6Li 3 V 2 (PO 4 ) 3 ·0.4Li–V–O composite cathode material is synthesized by sol-gel method followed by solvothermal and solid state reaction. The morphology and structure of the composite are characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy (XPS). The composite particles are well-crystallized and present uniform nanoplate alike. Except Li 3 V 2 (PO 4 ) 3 phase, LiV 2 O 5 and VO 2 are also present in the composite. The 0.6Li 3 V 2 (PO 4 ) 3 ·0.4Li–V–O electrode delivers a discharge capacity of 149.3 mAh g −1 at 50 mAg −1 between 2.0 V and 4.3 V, and has higher rate property than Li 3 V 2 (PO 4 ) 3 . The diffusion coefficients of Li ions in the composite are in the range of 10 −9.5 − 10 −7.5 cm 2 s −1 obtained from galvanostatic intermittent titration technique (GITT). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]