The influence of PEO on the synthesis and electrochemical properties of VO2 and V3O7•nH2O nanobelts as a cathode for lithium battery

In this paper, we report the hydrothermal synthesis of VO2, poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)/VO2,V3O7 center dot nH(2)O and PEO/V3O7 center dot nH(2)O nanobelts by using 1,2-propylene carbonate (1,2-PC (C4H6O3)) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) as templates, respectively. Structure and morphology of the samples were investigated by XRD, FTIR, SEM, and TEM. The vanadium oxide (VO2) nanobeltcomposite show the initial specific capacity 152 mA h g(-1), whereas PEO/VO2 shows 182 mA h g(-1). The pure V3O7 center dot nH(2)O nanobelts shows the initial specific capacity 192 mA h g(-1), while PEO/V3O7 center dot nH(2)O nanobelts show 297 mA h g(-1). It was found that PEO/VO2 and PEO/V3O7 center dot nH(2)O nanocomposites show better cyclic performance and high discharge stability compared to pure vanadium oxide nanomaterials. The role of the polymeric PEO component of the hybrid material seems to be the stabilization and improvement of the specific capacity due to probable homogeneous distribution between the nanobelts. The TEM images indicate that PEO works as a surfactant to decrease the dimensions of nanobelts.