Solvothermal synthesis of Li3VO4: Morphology control and electrochemical performance as anode for lithium-ion batteries

In this work, orthorhombic Li3VO4 with the controllable morphology has been synthesized by tuning the solvent composition (volume ratios of ethanol to deionized water) in a solvothermal approach. The resulting Li3VO4 samples with various morphologies (coral-shaped particle, self-assembled hierarchical microsphere, cube-like particle, sheet-like structure) show then different electrochemical performances when employed as anodes for Li-ion battery applications. The Li3VO4 with self-assembled hierarchical microsphere morphology (volume ratio of ethanol to deionized water at 15:15) exhibits the best electrochemical performance. The subsequent carbon coating process on microsphere samples is claimed to significantly improve both the capacities at both low (350-430 mAh g−1 at 100 mA g−1) and high current (180-350 mAh g−1 at 2 A g−1) conditions, and their excellent cycling stability.