Facile synthesis of one-dimensional vanadyl acetate nanobelts toward a novel anode for lithium storage

Transition metal oxides (TMOs) are prospective anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), owing to their high theoretical specific capacity. However, the inherently low conductivity of TMOs restricts their application. The coupling of lithium-ion conducting polymer ligands with TMO structures is favorable for the dynamics of electrochemical processes. Herein, vanadyl acetate (VA) nanobelts, an organic-inorganic hybrid material, are synthesized for the first time as an anode material for LIBs. As a result, the VA nanobelt electrode displays an outstanding electrochemical performance, including a highly stable reversible specific capacity (around 1065 mA h g^-1 at 200 mA g^-1), superior long-term cyclability (with a capacity of approximately 477 mA h g^-1 at 2 A g^-1 over 500 cycles) and attractive rate capability (1012 mA h g^-1 when the current density recovers to 200 mA g^-1). In addition, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), cyclic voltammetry (CV) curves at different scanning rates and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) are used to investigate the variation of the specific capacity and the electrochemical kinetic characteristics of the VA electrode during cycling in detail, respectively. Also, the structural variations of the VA electrode in the initial two cycles are also investigated by in situ XRD testing. The periodic evolution of the in situ XRD patterns demonstrates that the VA nanobelt electrode shows excellent reversibility for Li⁺ ion insertion/extraction. This work offers an enlightening insight into the future research into organo-vanadyl hybrids as advanced anode materials.