Multi-electron reactions of vanadium-based nanomaterials for high-capacity lithium batteries: challenges and opportunities

Abstract Achieving higher energy density is a very important target for the next-generation lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), which requires the innovation of electrode materials. Using multi-electron reaction electrodes for higher capacity is an effective approach to achieve the goal for higher energy density. Vanadium-based materials are an important group that can realize multi-electron reactions because of the rich valence variation of vanadium and have received great attention for high-capacity LIB electrodes through the history for battery researches in the past 40 years. In this review, we focus on the typical vanadium-based multi-electron reaction electrodes and discuss the structure/performance relationships, electrochemical mechanisms, issues, and optimization strategies, with emphasis on the challenges and opportunities of vanadium-based multi-electron reaction electrodes for next-generation LIBs.