Electrochemical storage incorporating size- and morphology-controlled metastable vanadium pentoxide as a cathode material for ion batteries

Abstract

The Li-ion paradigm of battery technology is fundamentally constrained by the monovalency of the Li-ion. A straightforward solution is to transition to multivalent ion chemistries, with Mgthe most obvious candidate due to considerations of size and mass. Despite early interest, the realization of Mg batteries has faced myriad obstacles, including a sparse selection of cathode materials demonstrating the ability to reversibly insert divalent ions. Disclosed herein is evidence of reversible topochemical and electrochemical insertion of Mginto a metastable one-dimensional polymorph of VO. Not only does ζ-VOrepresent a rare addition to the pantheon of functional Mg battery cathode materials, but is also distinctive in exhibiting a combination of high stability, high specific capacity due to ion insertion, and moderately high operating voltage.