Neutron Diffraction Studies of Vanadium Sulfate Cathode Materials

Vanadium based compounds have attracted considerable interest as positive electrode materials for Li ion batteries. This is due to vanadium’s ability to display a range of oxidation states, with oxidation states of V, IV and III being particularly common in battery materials. This enables vanadium to undergo multi electron transfer processes, which allow the insertion of more than one lithium into a range of different crystal structures. Here we have prepared a series of vanadium sulfates by low temperature routes. We have carried out a series of lithiations and in this experiment we will use neutron diffraction to locate the position and site occupancies of the lithium incorporated into the vanadium sulfate crystal structures.