Precursor-mediated synthesis of double-shelled V2O5 hollow nanospheres as cathode material for lithium-ion batteries

Abstract

Hollow micro-/nanostructures have a wide range of applications in catalysis, rechargeable batteries, drug delivery, and gas sensors, as well as energy storage and conversion. Herein, we report a facile, template-free, precursor-mediated method to synthesize V₂O₅ nanomaterials with three different architectures: double-shelled hollow nanospheres, single-shelled hollow nanospheres and nanoparticles. These V₂O₅ nanostructures are obtained via a simple thermal treatment in air of a “pre-synthesized” vanadyl glycerolate precursor, and their morphologies can be easily tuned by varying the thermal treatment temperatures. Electrochemical studies show that the double-shelled V₂O₅ hollow nanospheres as a cathode material for lithium-ion batteries deliver an initial capacity of 256.7 mA h g⁻¹ with a Coulombic efficiency of nearly 100%, and their capacity is superior to the two other V₂O₅ nanostructures (i.e., single-shelled hollow nanospheres and nanoparticles), mainly due to their unique double-shelled hollow structure.