Bottom-up Approach toward Single-Crystalline VO2-Graphene Ribbons as Cathodes for Ultrafast LithiumStorage.

Although lithium ion batteries havegained commercial success owingto their high energy density, they lack suitable electrodes capableof rapid charging and discharging to enable a high power density criticalfor broad applications. Here, we demonstrate a simple bottom-up approachtoward single crystalline vanadium oxide (VO2) ribbonswith graphene layers. The unique structure of VO2-grapheneribbons thus provides the right combination of electrode propertiesand could enable the design of high-power lithium ion batteries. Asa consequence, a high reversible capacity and ultrafast charging anddischarging capability is achieved with these ribbons as cathodesfor lithium storage. A full charge or discharge is capable in 20 s.More remarkably, the resulting electrodes retain more than 90% ofthe initial capacity after cycling more than 1000 times at an ultrahighrate of 190C, providing the best reported rate performance for cathodesin lithium ion batteries to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]