Study on the performance characteristics of Li–V–O nanocomposite as cathode material for Li-ion batteries

The Li–V–O composite (n_Li:n_V = 1:3.5) was synthesized by a hydrothermal method and post-treated at 300 °C. XRD analysis confirms that the composite is a binary LiV₃O₈–V₂O₅ composite system with the formula of 0.8LiV₃O₈·0.2V₂O₅. The composite consists of small laminar nanocrystallites with numerous cavities between the stacked laminar nanocrystallites, which can provide good channels for Li⁺ transfer during charge–discharge cycling. The initial discharge capacities of LiV₃O₈ and 0.8LiV₃O₈·0.2V₂O₅ samples were 276 and 365 mAh/g after 20 cycles, the discharge capacities of the two samples were 197.6 and 304 mAh/g, respectively. Smaller capacity loss indicates that the capacity retention of the composite is superior to that of bare LiV₃O₈ cathode.