Excellent Cyclic Stability of Pre-lithiated VO2(B) Nanorods as a Cathode Material for Lithium Ion Batteries

Two-dimensional pre-lithiated VO2(B) nanorods have been prepared via a facile hydrothermal method with vanadium pentoxide (V2O5), lithium nitrate (LiNO3) and maltose(C12H22O11) as raw materials. The crystal structure and micromorphology of the prepared sample were characterized by XRD, FESEM, TEM, SAED, BET, Raman spectroscopy, and XPS. It revealed that pre-lithiation significantly reduced its thickness (10-20 nm), and showed a more regular rectangular plane at the display. Furthermore, the lithium storage performance of the sample was investigated through CV, EIS, and charge/discharge tests. The results manifested that the pre-lithiated VO2(B) exhibited a much-enhanced electrochemical performance. For instance, the capacity retention rate of pre-lithiated VO2(B) is 72.7% after 100 cycles at 0.1C, significantly higher than that (43.8%) of the pure VO2(B). The improvement of the cycle performance of VO2(B) after pre-lithiation can be mainly attributed to its excellent structural reversibility, shortened lithium ion transmission distance and enhanced electrical conductivity. The pre-lithiation method provides an insight to improve the cyclling performance of lithium-ion batteries.