Tellurium nanoparticles enhanced electrochemical performances of TeO2- V2O5-Al2O3 glass anode for Lithium-ion batteries

Recently we developed a superior V2O5-TeO2 (VT) glass anode for Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) by the disorder/order engineering. In this work, we investigate the effect of Al2O3 doping on the physical, thermal and electrochemical properties of the V2O5-TeO2 glass anode. To do so, we prepared the glass samples with the composition of xAl2O3-(100-x) (TeO2-V2O5) (x = 3, 5, 8, and 10 mol%) (AVT). The results show that there exists a critical Al2O3 content, i.e., 5 mol% Al2O3, which gave LiBs the highest capacity of 202 mA h g−1 after 1000 cycles of discharging/charging under the current density of 1 A g−1 and the lowest charge-transfer resistance before cycling. The disorder-order transition was found to take place in the AVT glass anodes, accompanied by formation of tellurium nanocrystals after 1000 cycles at 1 A g−1. Both the Te nanocrystals and the glass matrix synergistically enhanced the capacity and the cycling stability of the AVT glass anode. These findings are useful for designing and developing new types of glass anodes with high capacity and long cycling life for LiBs.