Cellulose derived fibrous vanadium-sulfide/carbon composite with enhanced lithium storage properties

Vanadium-sulfides are considered as promising anodic materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to their unique layered structures and high theoretical capacities. However, the main challenge of vanadium-sulfide as an electrode material is still faced with slow Li-ion diffusion kinetics and inevitable structural damage during charging/discharging processes. Herein, a series of bio-inspired hierarchical fibrous VS 4 /C composites were designed based on cellulose substance as the scaffold and carbon source via simple hydrothermal method. The resultant fibrous VS 4 /C composites possessed a three-dimensional porous network structure consisting of carbon fibers coated with VS 4 nanosheets. As a consequence, the optimized VS 4 /C anodic materials exhibit high reversible capacities (953 mAh g −1 at 0.1 A g −1 ), good rate features (420 mAh g −1 at 2 A g −1 ), and fast diffusion kinetics. The superior electrochemical properties of the VS 4 /C composites are mainly attributed to the three-dimensional porous network structures combined with the carbon fibers matrix, which promotes the contact between the electrode and electrolyte, alleviates the structural damage of VS 4 , as well as facilitates the electron transfer and Li-ion diffusion during the cycling processes.