XAS AND ELECTROCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF LITHIUM INTERCALATED V2O5XEROGELS

The use of sol-gel processes in the preparation of cathode materials i s of growing interest because of their ease and flexibility. The elect rochemical properties, e.g. the rate of lithium intercalation, appear to depend on the morphology of the thin-film vanadium oxide xerogels t hat can be changed by modifying the preparation. In this context, in o rder to extend the study to bulk materials, xerogel powder samples wit h surface areas in the range 2-5 m(2)/g have been prepared from pure v anadium pentoxide hydrogels, or in the form of composites, from carbon powder added to hydrogels. The electrochemical properties have been c orrelated with the morphological and structural changes induced by the presence of carbon using X-ray and XAS spectroscopy.