Construction of a LiVO3/C core–shell structure for high-rate lithium storage

As an alternative anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), LiVO3 has shown great potential. We wished to fully reveal its potential for lithium storage. We introduced low-cost oxalic acid as a carbon source to construct a LiVO3/C core–shell structure. Employed as LIB anodes, the highly reversible specific capacity of LiVO3/C reached 776.0 mA h g−1 after 200 cycles at 0.2 A g−1. During five periods of rate testing at various current densities (0.2, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 5.0 A g−1), the average capacity of the LiVO3/C electrode was 365.8 mA h g−1 at 5.0 A g−1, and retained a high discharge capacity of 569.0 mA h g−1 when the current was returned to 0.2 A g−1. Impressively, the LiVO3/C anode presented an unprecedented high-rate long cycling performance of 205.0 mA h g−1 at 10.0 A g−1 after 2000 cycles. The unprecedented lithium-storage ability was attributed to the unique core–shell structure, in which all-around carbon encapsulation provided many interfaces, and enhanced the electron conductivity and structural consistency of the LiVO3/C electrode. Moreover, the adaptive reaction dynamics of the LiVO3/C electrode were documented. That is, the gradually increasing pseudocapacitance contribution and decreasing charge-transfer impedance upon cycling were the intrinsic drivers of the excellent rate performance. This work promotes further development of anode materials based on LiVO3.