Al-doped VO2(B) nanobelts as cathode material with enhanced electrochemical properties for lithium-ion batteries

Aluminium has shown its superiority in stabilization of the monoclinic VO2(B) in free-standing nanobelts. In this paper, aluminium-doped VO2(B) nanobelts are successfully fabricated by a facile one-step hydrothermal method and used as cathode for lithium-ion battery. XPS results show that Al-doping promotes the formation of high valence state of vanadium in VO2(B) nanobelts. Due to the accommodation of valence state of vanadium and lattice volume, Al-doped VO2(B) nanobelts used as the cathode material for lithium-ion batteries exhibit better lithium storage properties with high capacity of 172 mAh g(-1) and cycling stability than undoped VO2(B) nanobelts. This work demonstrates that the doping of aluminium can significantly enhance the electrochemical performance of VO2(B), suggesting that appropriate cationic doping is an efficient path to improve the electrochemical performance of electrode materials.