3D V6O13 Nanotextiles Assembled from Interconnected Nanogrooves as Cathode Materials for High-Energy Lithium Ion Batteries

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical nanostructures have been demonstrated as one of the most ideal electrode materials in energy storage systems owing to the synergistic combination of the advantages of both nanostructures and microstructures. In this work, 3D V₆O₁₃ nanotextiles built from interconnected 1D nanogrooves with diameter of 20–50 nm were fabricated via a facile solution-redox-based self-assembly route at room temperature, and the mesh size in the textile structure can be controllably tuned by adjusting the precursor concentration. It is suggested that the formation of 3D fabric structure built from nanogrooves is attributed to the rolling and self-assembly processes of produced V₆O₁₃ nanosheet intermediates. When evaluated as cathodes for lithium ion batteries (LIBs), the products delivered reversible capacities of 326 mAh g^–1 at 20 mA g^–1 and 134 mAh g^–1 at 500 mA g^–1, and a capacity retention of above 80% after 100 cycles at 500 mA g^–1. Importantly, the resulting textiles exhibit a specific energy as high as 780 Wh kg^–1, 44–56% higher than those of conventional cathodes, that is, LiMn₂O₄, LiCoO₂, and LiFePO₄. Furthermore, the 3D architectures retain good structural integrity upon cycling. Such findings reveal a great potential of V₆O₁₃ nanotextiles as high-energy cathode materials for LIBs.