Li 3 VO 4 has been considered as a promising anode material because of its high theoretical capacity (394mAh g À 1) and zero strain during the charge and discharge processes. However, its electronic conductivity is low, which has led to an electrochemical performance unfavourable for practical application. In this work, copper-doped Li 3 VO 4 is prepared by a simple and inexpensive sol-gel method. The doped Li 3 VO 4 delivers high initial discharge and charge capacities of up to 63 mAh g À 1 after 25 cycles for 5 % Cu-doped material at a rate of 0.5 C. Conductive Cu is found to enable better Li + ion storage due to the improved electronic conductivity, Li ion diffusion, and structural stability, improving cycling and rate performance. This work provides some hints for preparing Li 3 VO 4 based anodes with high electrochemical performance.

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