A robust carbon coating of Na3V2(PO4)3 cathode material for high performance sodium-ion batteries

Abstract Na3V2(PO4)3 is a very prospective sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) electrode material owing to its NASICON structure and high reversible capacity. Conversely, on account of its intrinsic poor electronic conductivity, Na3V2(PO4)3 electrode materials confront with some significant limitations like poor cycle and rate performance which inhibit their practical applications in the energy fields. Herein, a simple two-step method has been implemented for the successful preparation of carbon-coated Na3V2(PO4)3 materials. As synthesized sample shows a remarkable electrochemical performance of 124.1 mA h/g at 0.1 C (1 C = 117.6 mA/g), retaining 78.5 mA h/g under a high rate of 200 C and a long cycle-performance (retaining 80.7 mA h/g even after 10000 cycles at 20 C), outperforming the most advanced cathode materials as reported in literatures.