Pomegranate-like C@TiO₂ mesoporous honeycomb spheres for high performance lithium ion batteries

Abstract

Pomegranate-like C@TiO2 mesoporous honeycomb spheres have been synthesized through two simple steps: formation of TiO2 mesoporous honeycomb spheres and the coating of polypyrrole followed by carbonization. TiO2 mesoporous honeycomb spheres are of large specific surface area of 153 m2 g−1 and contain abundant mesopores, which leads to high electrochemical activity and good kinetic performance of TiO2. A layer of amorphous carbon shell with the thickness of 30–40 nm tightly encapsulates a TiO2 mesoporous honeycomb sphere, forming a novel pomegranate-like small sphere, which significantly improves electronic conductivity and structural stability of TiO2. Benefiting from the unique pomegranate-like structure, C@TiO2 mesoporous honeycomb spheres exhibit high specific capacity, stable long-term cycling performance and good rate capability as an anode material for lithium ion batteries (LIBs). After 500 cycles at 1 C, the discharge capacity still reaches 184 mAh g−1. The electrochemical performance is superior to pure TiO2 mesoporous honeycomb spheres and most of the reported high-performance TiO2-based composites. This work provides a new high-performance TiO2-carbon-based composite material for LIBs as well as a new valuable research strategy.

Architecting Nb‐TiO2−x/(Ti0.9Nb0.1)3C2Tx MXene Nanohybrid Anode for High‐Performance Lithium‐Ion Batteries

“…The Raman spectroscopy of the samples are exhibited in Figure 1b, in which the TNC presents a distinctive MXene characteristics, and the TNC-450 shows the 158, 388, and 630 cm −1 characteristic peaks, which can be ascribed to the vibration modes of E g , B 1g , and E g of rutile TiO 2 . [61] Additionally, the out-of-plane vibration of Ti-C at 212 cm −1 is significantly reduced, implying the Ti-C bond is gradually transformed into Ti-O bonds. [62] Moreover, the vibration peak intensity of rutile TiO 2 in TNC-600 is the highest, indicating the content of TiO 2 in the nanohybrid will gradually increase with the calcination temperature.…”

Honeycomb‐based heterostructures: An emerging platform for advanced energy applications: A review on energy systems

“…C@TiO 2 mesoporous honeycomb spheres, which have a pomegranate-like shape, have a high specific volume, reliable long-term cycling stability, and strong rate capability as an anode material LIBs. The discharge power is already 184 mAh/g after 500 cycles at 1 C. Pure TiO 2 mesoporous honeycomb spheres and most observed high-performance TiO 2 -based composites perform worse electrochemically [110] . Bioinspired heterogeneous bimetallic Co-Mo oxide (CoMoO x ) nanoarchitectures assembled from 2D nano units are successfully fabricated through a molybdenum mediatedself-assembly strategy for improving the rate capability of electrochemical lithium storage devices.…”

Intrinsically conducting polymers and their combinations with redox-active molecules for rechargeable battery electrodes: an update

“…In a simplified approach an ICP can be used as a heteroatom source for preparation of, e.g., nitrogen-containing carbon materials (Li et al 2019b). Mesoporous spheres of TiO 2 embedded in PPy yielded after carbonization a negative electrode material for a lithium-ion battery (Chen et al 2020a) 53% of the initial electrode capacity were left after 500 cycles.…”