Abstract
Lithium ion batteries (LIBs) are the best available technology today to push forward the production of eco-friendly electricvehicles (EVs) to reduce the emission of CO2 into the atmosphere. In addition, they are promising for efficient utilization ofrenewable energy sources which needs to be stored for usage. The transformation from conventional vehicles run by fossil fuelsto battery powered EVs are mainly hindered by the high upfront price of the EVs which is mainly due to the high cost of thebattery packs used in these vehicles. Hence, cost reduction of LIBs is one of the major strategies to bring forth the EVs to competein the market with their gasoline counterparts. Cathode materials account for more than 40% of the total cost of LIBs and hencethe cost reduction should primarily focus on alternative low cost cathode materials. In this work, Graphene/ MOPOF (MetalOrganophosphate Open Framework) nanocomposites, G/K2[(VO)2(HPO4)2(C2O4)] with ~4 V of operation has been developedby a cost effective room temperature synthesis that eliminates any expensive post-synthetic treatments at high temperatureand devoid of inert atmospheres like Ar/Ar-H2. Though the pristine MOPOF material can undergo reversible lithium storage,it encounter capacity fading due to intrinsic poor conductivity. Enhanced lithium cycling with minimal capacity fading waswitnessed with the graphene nanocomposite owing to the increased electronic conductivity and enhanced Li diffusivity. GITTstudies to examine the Li ion conduction in the material revealed the good Li ion diffusion coefficients in the framework, whichare of the order of some layered oxide cathodes.