Uniform Co3V2O8 microspheres via controllable assembly for high-performance lithium-ion battery anodes

As recently explored lithium-ion battery (LIB) anode materials, transition metal vanadates have attracted much attention due to their excellent electrochemical performance. In this work, we successfully synthesized solid Co3V2O8 microspheres (sCVO MSs) via a facile and controllable hydrothermal reaction, and the magical formation mechanism was also revealed by the different morphologies of sCVO MSs at different reaction times. When tested as LIB anode materials, sCVO MSs showed superior reversible capacities (similar to 780 mA h g(-1) after 250 cycles at 1000 mA g(-1) and as high as 550 mA h g(-1) even after 400 cycles at 5000 mA g(-1)) and excellent rate performance (a capacity of similar to 500 mA h g(-1) at a current density of 2000 mA g(-1)). It is accordingly demonstrated that uniform sCVO MSs have great potential to be used as high-performance LIB anodes.