High energy ball milling to synthesize transition metal vanadates with boosted lithium storage performance

Amorphous phase has been studied to be advantageous over its crystalline counterparts in energy storage field due to its abundant defects, more active sites, and less structural strain. However, fabrication of amorphous materials is usually complex and uncontrollable. High energy ball milling is a facile and universal method to prepare amorphous materials with numerous defects, dislocations, and fresh surfaces. In this work, high energy ball milling is used to prepare transition metal vanadates with boosted lithium storage performance. The cobalt vanadates oxide (CVO) as prepared delivers a specific discharge capacity as high as 836.4 mA h g-1 with 126 % retention at the current density of 1000 mA g-1 after 500 cycles. The superior electrochemical properties are beneficial from a large proportion of the amorphous phase and oxygen defects. This work offers an effective approach to fabricating more advanced electrode materials.