Fabrication of Nb2O5/Carbon Submicrostructures for Advanced Lithium-Ion Battery Anodes

Nb2O5 possesses superior fast Li+ storage capability for LIB anodes, benefiting from its fast pseudocapacitive behavior and low volumetric change within the cycling processes. However, the poor electric conductivity for Nb2O5 restricts its reaction kinetics and rate property. Herein, Nb2O5/carbon (C) submicrostructures are fabricated by solvothermal method followed by calcination process. The Nb2O5/C submicrostructures exhibit outstanding rate behavior and cyclic performance (332 (194) mAh g(-1) after 1000 cycles at 1 (5) A g(-1)). The superior electrochemical property is attributed to the distinctive structure for Nb2O5/C submicrostructures, in which Nb2O5 nanoparticles uniformly distributed within Nb2O5/C composite can protect Nb2O5 nanoparticles from agglomeration, and the porous carbon matrix can enhance electron/ion conductivity. This work furnishes a novel strategy for fabricating Nb2O5/C submicrostructures with superior Li+ storage performance, which can be potentially used to design other metal oxide/C submicrostructures for second battery anode.