Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), as a key technology, play a dominant role in today's world, especially for transportation and renewable energy storage [1]. Extensive research efforts have been dedicated to exploring and developing new cathode materials to satisfy the need of high energy and power density LIBs [2]. Since the mid-1970s, vanadium oxides have been investigated for their potential use in LIBs. Their variable oxidation states enable more than one lithium ion insertion leading to a high capacity [3]. However, the poor rate ability and cycle retention limit their scale-up and commercialization. According to recent research, nanostructured materials provide a new opportunity to solve these problems [4], [5] and [6]. They can effectively improve the electrochemical kinetics, shorten the diffusion distance for Li+ ions, and buffer the volume change as compared with non-nanostructured materials. Although a wide range of nano-sized vanadium oxides, such as nanorods, nanotubes and nanobelts, have been synthesized by means of various methods including sol–gel reactions, the reverse micelle technique, electrodeposition, and hydrothermal processes [7], [8] and [9]. It is still a challenge to find out a low-cost and simple fabrication for practical application.
Herein we report a facile method for preparing V2O5 nanoparticles (nano V2O5) through a melt-induced filling strategy. Porous carbon was prepared from rice husks and used as the template. The nano V2O5 exhibited markedly enhanced capacity and excellent rate ability, when used as cathode material for LIBs.