Fabrication of Ca2V2O7 microspheres and its application in lithium-ion batteries

• Three-dimensional Ca2V2O7 hierarchical microspheres assembled by nanoparticles have been prepared.
• The Ca2V2O7 hierarchical microspheres were prepared by a simple one-step hydrothermal method.
• The microspheres show good cycling performance and high Coulombic efficiency.
• The microspheres exhibit a strong absorption in a wide range from UV to visible light.

Three-dimensional (3D) Ca2V2O7 hierarchical microspheres assembled by nanoparticles have been successfully prepared on a large scale via a hydrothermal technique without using any surfactants or additives. UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectrum (UV–vis DRS) shows that the Ca2V2O7 microspheres present strong absorption in a wide range from UV to visible light and the band gap was measured to be 2.65 eV. Electrochemical measurements reveal that the Ca2V2O7 microspheres display high discharge capacity and good cycling stability, indicating that they might find possible application as promising anode materials in lithium-ion batteries. The present work will greatly expand the range of anode choices and could assist long-term endeavors in developing high capacity anode materials for lithium-ion batteries.