In situ Synthesis of V₂O₃-Intercalated N-doped Graphene Nanobelts from VO_x-Amine Hybrid as High-Performance Anode Material for Alkali-Ion Batteries

V₂O₃ is a promising anode material for lithium- and sodium-ion batteries due to its high theoretical capacity and natural abundance. However, the low conductivity, sluggish ion reaction kinetics, and large volume change limit the rate and cycling stability in batteries. In this work, the V₂O₃-nanoparticles-intercalated N-doped graphene (V₂O₃/NG) hybrid is prepared by one-step controlled pyrolysis of inorganic-organic hybrid VO_x/3-phenylpropylamine nanobelts under Ar. The intercalated 3-phenylpropylamine molecules are carbonized in situ into the NG layers and the sandwiched VO_x layers are converted into 10–20 nm V₂O₃ nanoparticles. The V₂O₃/NG nanobelts possess well-defined 0D-in-1D morphology and excellent electrochemical performance such as high reversible capacities of 435 mAh g⁻¹ at 100 mA g⁻¹ over 250 cycles for Li-ion storage and 154 mAh g⁻¹ at 500 mA g⁻¹ over 500 cycles for Na-ion storage. The well-defined 0D-in-1D hybrid V₂O₃/NG structure with small V₂O₃ nanoparticles, interconnected nanochannels, and conductive NG layers offer abundant electrochemical active sites leading to fast Li⁺ and electron transport and excellent alkali-ion storage.