Direct synthesis of nanostructured V2O5 films using solution plasma spray approach for lithium battery application

We demonstrate for the first time, the synthesis of vanadium pentoxide (V{sub 2}O{sub 5}) nanoparticles and nanorods in the films using a high throughput solution plasma spray deposition approach. The scalable plasma spray method enables the direct deposition of large area nanostructured films of V{sub 2}O{sub 5} with controllable particle size and morphology. In this approach, the solution precursors (vanadium oxychloride and ammonium metavanadate) were injected externally into the plasma jet, which atomizes and pyrolyzes the precursors in-flight, resulting in the desired films on the current collectors. The microstructure analysis of the as synthesized films revealed pure nanocrystalline phase for V{sub 2}O{sub 5} with particles in the size range of 20-50 nm. The V{sub 2}O{sub 5} film based electrodes showed stable reversible discharge capacity in the range of 200-250 mAh g{sup -1} when cycled in the voltage window 2-4 V. We further discuss the mechanism for controlling the particle growth and morphology, and also the optimization of reversible lithium storage capacity. The nanorods of V{sub 2}O{sub 5} formed after the anneal treatment also show reversible storage capacity indicative of the potential use of such film based electrodes for energy storage.