Synthesis and electrochemical properties of α-LiVOPO4 as cathode material for lithium-ion batteries

Triclinic α-LiVOPO4 with excellent electrochemical properties is prepared, using δ-VOPO4, LiNO3, and a highly conductive carbon material (acetylene black) as raw materials, by a two-step method, for the first time. Transmission electron microscopy reveals that the synthesized nanoscale α-LiVOPO4 is approximately 50-100 nm in size, and its surface is covered by 1.68 nm thick acetylene black, which not only improves the ionic conductivity of the material, but prevents material-size growth at high temperature, and particle agglomeration. In addition, the initial discharge capacity of α-LiVOPO4 sintered at 600 °C over 10 h is the highest, reaching 111.7 mAh g−1 at 0.05 °C. The capacity retention rate is 95.1%, which is 106.3 mAh g−1 after 50 cycles.