Polycrystalline VO2(M) with well-dispersed crystalline zones for enhanced electroactivity of lithium-ion batteries

Constructing polycrystalline structure is an effective strategy to improve the electrochemical performance of electrode materials. To enhance the electroactivity of anisotropic VO 2 (M), polycrystalline VO 2 (M) with well-dispersed crystalline zones is successfully synthesized by a facile one-step hydrothermal method , and then their electrochemical performances as an anode of lithium-ion batteries are systematically explored. Results show that the synergistic effect of crystalline zones and amorphous matrices in polycrystalline structure can dramatically activate the anisotropic VO 2 (M) electrode, which contributes to increasing the electroactive zones and facilitating the charge transfer kinetics. Compared with single-crystal VO 2 (M), polycrystalline VO 2 (M) shows the significantly enhanced electrochemical performance, delivering a high reversible capacity of 476 mAhg −1  at 100 mAg −1 after 150 cycles, which is far superior to the theoretical capacity and the reported mixture of VO 2 (M) and VO 2 (B). This work opens up new insights for the activation of anisotropic electrode materials.