Influence of TiO 2 surface coating on the electrochemical properties of V 2 O 5 micro-particles as a cathode material for lithium ion batteries

V 2 O 5 micro-particles were obtained by the mechanical milling process combined with a simple sintering treatment using commercial V 2 O 5 powder as a raw material. We successfully adopted the hydroxylation of tetrabutyl titanate (C 16 H 36 O 4 Ti) in air and a post-sintering procedure to synthesize the TiO 2 -coated V 2 O 5 micro-particles. Afterwards, systematic electrochemical characterization was performed to evaluate the electrochemical performance of V 2 O 5 micro-particles as a cathode material for lithium ion batteries (LIBs) with and without the TiO 2 coating. As for the V 2 O 5 micro-particles, the maximum discharge specific capacity reaches 247.8 mA h g −1 , which gradually decreases to 212.6 mA h g −1 after 50 cycles at a current density of 100 mA g −1 between 2 and 4 V ( vs. Li/Li + ). Under the same conditions, TiO 2 coated V 2 O 5 micro-particles deliver the highest capacity of 246.6 mA h g −1 and keeps at 229.1 mA h g −1 for the 50 th cycle. The results indicated that the TiO 2 coating could effectively suppress the electrochemical property degradation of V 2 O 5 crystalline micro-particles, improving its cycling stability during long-term charge–discharge measurements through the protective role of the TiO 2 layer.