In order to prepare TiO 2 nanotubes of controlled morphology, anodization of titanium under fixed voltge or, alternatively, under variable voltage (voltage ramp) was used. Self-organized TiO 2 nanotubes with amorphous character are obtained, and after annealing at about 500 • C in air atmosphere anatase-phase nanotubes are formed. The use of aqueous electrolyte batteries may be an alternative to non-aqueous batteries. Using cyclic voltammetry, we have found that self-organized anatase nt-TiO 2 electrode in aqueous solution containing lithium (or sodium) ions exhibits reversible redox processes, particularly after optimization of the electrode properties (i.e. anodization of Ti ramp of voltage) and electrolyte. It seems that the ramp of voltage drives to double-walled nanotube and this special morphology (fractal electrode) enhances the capacity to react with sodium. The electrochemical behavior of this electrode material in aqueous sodium cell may be competitive against TiO 2 in non-aqueous microbatteries. TiO 2 is exceptionally stable, nontoxic, inexpensive and abundant. These properties contribute to make titania an excellent candidate as material for energy storage systems, such as batteries 1-4 and electrochemical capacitors, 5 and for conversion energy systems such as solar cells. 6,7 However, the use of TiO 2 as negative electrode in nonaqueous batteries may show several drawbacks, such as the relatively low gravimetric capacity, low coulombic efficiency at low voltage and poor cyclability. The formation of titania nanotubes (nt-TiO 2 ) can help to overcome these problems.The good response of nt-TiO 2 electrode in lithium batteries 4 prompts its evaluation in sodium batteries. Thus, previous results evidenced the suitability of amorphous nt-TiO 2 in sodium test cells, 8,9 and areal capacity was enhanced in high aspect ratio titania nanotubes.
9In addition, reversible capacity for nanosized anatase TiO 2 in sodium batteries has been also reported. 10,11 We very recently have reported sodium batteries using anatase nt-TiO 2 with very good electrochemical behavior: areal capacity in the order of 1.0-1.5 mAh/cm 2 , and after 600 discharge-charge cycles the gravimetric capacity is about 200 mAh/g.
12The use of aqueous electrolyte batteries may be an alternative to lithium 3,13 and sodium 14-17 ion batteries which use organic solvents, with safety, cost and environmental advantages. Thus, in a pioneering work, Li et al. reported that the aqueous lithium ion batteries compete with nickel-cadmium and lead-acid batteries on the basis of stored energy per unit of weigh. 13 The main drawbacks and limitations would be the low voltage (around 2 V for aqueous lithium ion batteries) and the electrode stability. [25][26][27] In principle, all these electrode materials should operate within a potential window that avoids or minimize the evolution of H 2 and O 2 , and consequently the feasibility of operating the aqueous lithium ion batteries would be demonstrated, 28 albeit electrochemical cells with recombination of the ...