Facile Synthesis of Nanocrystalline TiO₂ Mesoporous Microspheres for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Abstract

TiO2 mesoporous nanocrystalline microspheres assembled from uniform nanoparticles were synthesized by a facile and template-free hydrolytic precipitation route in normal solvent media. The phase structure, morphology, and pore nature were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, and BET measurements. The electrochemical properties were investigated by cyclic voltammetry, constant current discharge−charge tests, and electrochemical impedance techniques. Microspheres with diameters ranging from 0.2 to 1.0 μm were assembled by aggregation of nanosized TiO2 crystallites (∼8−15 nm) and yielded a typical type-IV BET isotherm curve with a surface area of ∼116.9 m2 g−1 and a pore size of ∼5.4 nm. A simplified model was proposed to demonstrate the nanoparticle packing modes to form the mesoporous structure. The initial discharge capacity reached 265 mAh g−1 at a rate of 0.06 C and 234 mAh g−1 at a rate of 0.12 C. The samples demonstrated high rate capacity of 175 mAh g−1 at 0.6 C and 151 mAh g−1 at 1.2 C even after 50 cycles, and the Coulombic efficiency was approximately 99%, indicating excellent cycling stability and reversibility. Details of the kinetic process of the nanocrystalline mesoporous microspheres electrode reaction from electrochemical impedance spectra provided further insights into the possible mechanisms responsible for the good reversibility and stability. These investigations indicate that TiO2 nanocrystalline mesoporous microspheres might be a promising anode material for high-energy density lithium-ion batteries.

High specific capacity of TiO2-graphene nanocomposite as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries in an enlarged potential window

“…In the equivalent circuit, R indicates the uncompensated bulk resistance of the electrolyte, separator and electrode; the (C 1 R 1 ) parallel element corresponds to the SEI film, electrode roughness and inhomogeneous reaction at the surface; the (C 2 R 2 ) parallel element might be attributed to the possible breakdown of electrolyte and electrode material internal microstructures; R ct is attributed to the charge-transfer resistance at the active material interface; C d is the constant phase angle element, involving double layer capacitance; W represents the Warburg impedance related to the diffusion of lithium-ion into the bulk electrodes [32,47]. The fitted impedance parameters of the equivalent circuit are listed in Table 1.…”

Molybdenum disulfide grafted titania nanotube arrays as high capacity retention anode material for lithium ion batteries

“…Various kinds of low dimensional TiO 2 such as nanotubes (Armstrong et al 2006;Qiu et al 2010), nanowires (Cao et al 2010), nanorods , and nanoparticles (Ren et al 2012) etc., have been employed as anode for LIBs. Amongst these nanostructures of TiO 2 (Armstrong et al 2006;Qiu et al 2010;Cao et al 2010;Liu et al 2012;Ren et al 2012;Wang et al 2011), titanium dioxide nanotube arrays (TNAs) (Guo et al 2012;Anwar et al 2015;Tauseef Anwar et al 2016) are more advantageous owe to higher specific surface area, porosity, and vertical alignment. The TNAs not only provide Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13204-016-0543-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.…”

Synthesis, morphology and electrochemical properties of TiO2 microspheres

“…Samples consisting of spherical TiO 2 particles obtained by various methods based mainly on the hydrolysis of organic derivatives of titanium are extensively probed as photocatalysts and electrode materials in lithium-ion batteries [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. The spherical form of titanium dioxide seems to be the most common since numerous varieties of this substance including nanorods [4] and nanosheets [10] tend to self-organize forming microspheres.…”

“…The spherical form of titanium dioxide seems to be the most common since numerous varieties of this substance including nanorods [4] and nanosheets [10] tend to self-organize forming microspheres. Such a tendency is natural from the point of view of the minimum surface energy of a spherical particle [4,9].…”

“…In this paper, a novel method for the synthesis of TiO 2 microspheres in «mild» conditions, viz., in solutions of moderate concentration, at medium temperature and ambient pressure is presented, and morphology and electrochemical properties of the material obtained are described. Following our previous work [14] and unlike other approaches [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13], we use TiCl 4 instead of organic derivatives of titanium as a raw material.…”