Fabrication of Nb 2 O 5 /Carbon Submicrostructures for Advanced Lithium-Ion Battery Anodes.

Nb 2 O 5 possesses superior fast Li + storage capability for LIB anodes, benefiting from its fast pseudocapacitive behavior and low volumetric change within the cycling processes. However, the poor electric conductivity for Nb 2 O 5 restricts its reaction kinetics and rate property. Herein, Nb 2 O 5 /carbon (C) submicrostructures are fabricated by solvothermal method followed by calcination process. The Nb 2 O 5 /C submicrostructures exhibit outstanding rate behavior and cyclic performance (332 (194) mAh g -1 after 1000 cycles at 1 (5) A g -1 ). The superior electrochemical property is attributed to the distinctive structure for Nb 2 O 5 /C submicrostructures, in which Nb 2 O 5 nanoparticles uniformly distributed within Nb 2 O 5 /C composite can protect Nb 2 O 5 nanoparticles from agglomeration, and the porous carbon matrix can enhance electron/ion conductivity. This work furnishes a novel strategy for fabricating Nb 2 O 5 /C submicrostructures with superior Li + storage performance, which can be potentially used to design other metal oxide/C submicrostructures for second battery anode.