Low-temperature synthesis of nanosheet-structured NH4V3O8 with superior lithium storage property

•NH4V3O8 material is synthesized at 65 °C through microwave radiation.•NH4V3O8 nanosheets with the thickness of about 50 nm are obtained.•The NH4V3O8 nanosheets exhibit high discharge capacity and good rate capability.

Nanosheet-structured NH4V3O8 material was successfully prepared through microwave radiation at low temperature (65 °C) without any surfactant. The phase compositions, morphologies and electrochemical performances of the samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge test. NH4V3O8 nanosheets with the thickness of about 50 nm exhibit a high discharge capacity of 266 mA h g−1 at 15 mA g−1 and good rate capability with the discharge capacity of 221 mAh g−1 at 120 mA g−1, 208 mA h g−1 at 240 mA g−1, and 196 mA h g−1 at 300 mA g−1, indicating a promising application as cathode materials for Li-ion battery.