EPSILON-VOPO4 CATHODE PRODUCTION, AND APPLICATIONS THEREOF

A lithium battery with a cathode fabricated using an improved method for slurry formulation and electrode production. The cathode comprises the epsilon polymorph of vanadyl phosphate, ε-VOPO, made from solvothermally synthesized HVOPO, and optimized to reversibly intercalate two Li-ions to reach full theoretical capacity with a coulombic efficiency of 98%. This material adopts a stable 3D tunnel structure and can extract two Li-ions per vanadium ion, giving a theoretical capacity of 305 mAh/g, with an upper charge/discharge plateau at around 4.0 V, and one lower at around 2.5 V. The ε-VOPO4 particles may be modified with niobium (Nb) to improve the cycling stability.