Synthesis of V₂O₅ nanoparticles: cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries

Vanadium oxide-based nanomaterials have been showing great promise as cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Among these, nanostructured V₂O₅ shows a high discharge capacity due to its layer structure and thermodynamically stable form. This work reports the synthesis of V₂O₅ nanoparticles via a simple low temperature hydrothermal method using ammonium vanadate and quinol. The reduced size of V₂O₅ has resulted in the blue shift of the absorption spectrum. The material has been examined as a cathode material to study lithium intercalation/deintercalation. It shows an initial discharge capacity of 310 mAh g^-1 at a current density of 0.1 mA g^-1 at 1.5-4 V and retains a specific discharge capacity of 184 mAh g^-1 even after 58 cycles. The present study manifests how the nanostructured size V₂O₅ could be applied as a high-energy cathode material for LIBs. (author)