Li3V2(PO4)3/graphene nanocomposite as a high performance cathode material for lithium ion battery

In this work, pure LVP nanoparticles and an LVP/graphene nanocomposite are successfully synthesized by a simple and cost effective polyol based solvothermal method, which can be easily scaled up. The synthesized nanocomposite contained small (30–60 nm) LVP nanoparticles completely and uniformly anchored on reduced graphene nanosheets. As a cathode for lithium ion batteries, the nanocomposite electrode delivered high reversible lithium storage capacity (189.8 mA h g−1 at 0.1 C), superior cycling stability (111.8 mA h g−1 at 0.1 C, 112.6 mA h g−1 at 5 C, and 103.4 mA h g−1 at 10 C after 80 cycles) and better C-rate capability (90.8 mA h g−1 at 10 C), whereas the pure LVP nanoparticles electrode delivered much less capacity at all investigated current rates. The enhanced electrochemical performance of the nanocomposite electrode can be attributed to the synergistic interaction between the uniformly dispersed LVP nanoparticles and the graphene nanosheets, which offers a large number of accessible active sites for the fast diffusion of Li ions, low internal resistance, high conductivity and more importantly, accommodates the large volume expansion/contraction during cycling.