Synthesis and electrochemical performances of Zn3V3O8 as novel anode material for lithium ion battery application

Highlights: • Zn₃V₃O₈ was successfully synthesized by solvothermal method firstly. • The Zn₃V₃O₈ synthesized in 18 h exhibits outstanding electrochemical performance. • The Zn₃V₃O₈ with typical morphology behaves high reversible capacity. • The Zn₃V₃O₈ formed in 18 h owns large electronic and ionic conductivity. Zn₃V₃O₈ microspheres are successfully synthesized by a facile solvothermal method. Then a serious of time-dependent experiments is explored to study the effects of different reaction time on the growth process for Zn₃V₃O₈ microspheres. The structure and morphology of the as-prepared samples are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. The results indicate that pure phase of Zn₃V₃O₈ with good crystallinities synthesized. It takes morphology of microspheres with the diameter of 2–3 μm. The electrochemical performances of different samples as anode material for lithium ion battery are also investigated. The Zn₃V₃O₈ sample synthesized for 18 h exhibits high capacity, excellent rate capability and stable cycle performance. The initial discharge capacity of the Zn₃V₃O₈ is1358 mAh g⁻¹at 100 mA g⁻¹ and retained it at 1019 mAh g⁻¹ after 100 cycles in the voltage range of 0.01–3.0 V. The superior electrochemical performances of Zn₃V₃O₈ make it possible to be used as promising anode for future application.