Solution combustion synthesis of crystalline V2O3 and amorphous V2O3/C as anode for lithium-ion battery

In this paper, crystalline V2O3 and amorphous V2O3/C products are synthesized via one-pot solution combustion synthesis (SCS) method (completed within 2 minutes). The characteristics of combustion products could be tuned by changing the amounts of glucose. The as-synthesized crystalline V2O3 nanopowder consists of nanoparticles with average size of 100 nm. Amorphous V2O3/C composite exhibits large porous microsheet structure in which oxygen vacancy-enabled amorphous V2O3 particles are embedded into N-doped carbon microsheets. The existence of oxygen vacancies can promote energetics for the transport of electrons and ions and maintain the integrity of sample surface morphology. Moreover, N-doping can enhance electrical conductivity and promote the diffusion of electrons and lithium ions. Amorphous V2O3/C composite possesses high reversible capacity and superior cycling stability (833 mAh g(-1) at 1 A g(-1) after 250 cycles, 867 mAh g(-1) at 0.1 A g(-1) after 100 cycles), indicating its potential as excellent anode material for lithium-ion battery. The proposed one-step, time- and energy-efficient SCS method has the potential to prepare other oxygen vacancy-enabled transition metal oxides for energy storage.