Transition metal vanadium oxides and vanadate materials for lithium batteries

Transition metal vanadium oxides and vanadates have been widely investigated as possible active materials for primary and rechargeable lithium batteries. As compared to the classic lithium-insertion compounds such as LiCoO2, the composite vanadium oxides and vanadates have the prominent advantages of high theoretical capacities owing to multistep reductions and more electron transfer upon lithium intercalation. This short review presents a survey of recent advances made in the application of transition metal vanadium oxides and vanadates. Particularly, the structure, synthesis and electrochemical properties of silver vanadium oxides (e.g., AgVO3, Ag2V4O11 and Ag4V2O6F2) and copper vanadates (e.g., CuV2O6, Cu2.33V4O11 and Cu1.1V4O11) are discussed, with the illustration of the effect of crystal structure, composition, and morphology on the battery performance. Benefits gained from reducing the particle size have been particularly demonstrated.