Facile and controllable construction of vanadium pentoxide@conducting polymer core/shell nanostructures and their thickness-dependent synergistic energy storage properties

•Thickness- and morphology-controlled V2O5/PANI core/shell hybrid nanofibers are fabricated.•The enhancement of energy storage performance of core/shell hybrids varies with the shell thickness.•Thickness-dependent synergistic electron transport, Li-ion diffusion distances, and shell mechanical strength mechanisms are proposed.

Thickness- and morphology-controlled vanadium pentoxide/polyaniline (V2O5/PANI) core/shell hybrid nanofibers are fabricated by electropolymerization of PANI on V2O5 nanofibers for enhanced energy storage. By simply adjusting the electrodeposition time, the thickness of the PANI shells can be controlled from 5 nm to 47 nm, and the morphology can be changed from coaxial to branched. The influence of shell thickness on the improved Li-ion storage performance of the V2O5/PANI core/shell nanofibers is systematically investigated, and this enhancement of charge capability and cycling stability strongly varies with the shell thickness. Thickness-dependent synergistic electron transport, Li-ion diffusion distances, and shell mechanical strength mechanisms are also proposed. These results provide meaningful references for developing new functional core/shell materials and high-performance energy storage composite materials.

Graphical abstractHere, we report a novel approach to prepare metal oxide@conducting polymer core/shell hybrids with controlled shell thickness and morphology, and the influence of PANI shell thickness on the electrochemical performance of V2O5@PANI core/shell hybrids is systematically investigated. Thickness-dependent synergistic electron transport, Li-ion diffusion distance, and shell mechanical strength mechanisms are proposed.Download high-res image (219KB)Download full-size image