In situ Synthesis of V2O3-Intercalated N-doped Graphene Nanobelts from VOx-Amine Hybrid as High-Performance Anode Material for Alkali-Ion Batteries

V2O3 is a promising anode material for lithium- and sodium-ion batteries due to its high theoretical capacity and natural abundance. However, the low conductivity, sluggish ion reaction kinetics, and large volume change limit the rate and cycling stability in batteries. In this work, the V2O3-nanoparticles-intercalated N-doped graphene (V2O3/NG) hybrid is prepared by one-step controlled pyrolysis of inorganic-organic hybrid VOx/3-phenylpropylamine nanobelts under Ar. The intercalated 3-phenylpropylamine molecules are carbonized insitu into the NG layers and the sandwiched VOx layers are converted into 10-20nm V2O3 nanoparticles. The V2O3/NG nanobelts possess well-defined 0D-in-1D morphology and excellent electrochemical performance such as high reversible capacities of 435mAhg(-1) at 100 mAg(-1) over 250 cycles for Li-ion storage and 154 mAhg(-1) at 500 mAg(-1) over 500 cycles for Na-ion storage. The well-defined 0D-in-1D hybrid V2O3/NG structure with small V2O3 nanoparticles, interconnected nanochannels, and conductive NG layers offer abundant electrochemical active sites leading to fast Li+ and electron transport and excellent alkali-ion storage.