Anodic titania films as anode materials for lithium ion batteries

Facile synthesis of a mesostructured TiO2–graphitized carbon (TiO2–gC) composite through the hydrothermal process and its application as the anode of lithium ion batteries

A mesostructured TiO₂–graphitic carbon (TiO₂–gC) composite was synthesized through a simple and scalable one-step hydrothermal method, exhibiting high capacity, advanced rate capability and a very stable cycle life.

Long-Cycle-Life Na-Ion Anodes Based on Amorphous Titania Nanotubes--Interfaces and Diffusion

Amorphous self-assembled titania nanotube layers are fabricated by anodization in ethylene glycol based baths. The nanotubes having diameters between 70-130 nm and lengths between 4.5-17 μm are assembled in Na-ion test cells. Their sodium insertion properties and electrochemical behavior with respect to sodium insertion is studied by galvanostatic cycling with potential limitation and cyclic voltammetry. It is found that these materials are very resilient to cycling, some being able to withstand more than 300 cycles without significant loss of capacity. The mechanism of electrochemical storage of Na(+) in the investigated titania nanotubes is found to present significant particularities and differences from a classical insertion reaction. It appears that the interfacial region between titania and the liquid electrolyte is hosting the majority of Na(+) ions and that this interfacial layer has a pseudocapacitive behavior. Also, for the first time, the chemical diffusion coefficients of Na(+) into the amorphous titania nanotubes is determined at various electrode potentials. The low values of diffusion coefficients, ranging between 4 × 10(-20) to 1 × 10(-21) cm(2)/s, support the interfacial Na(+) storage mechanism.

Nanostructured TiO2/carbon nanosheet hybrid electrode for high-rate thin-film lithium-ion batteries

Heterogeneous nanostructured electrodes using carbon nanosheets (CNS) and TiO2 exhibit high electronic and ionic conductivity. In order to realize the chip level power sources, it is necessary to employ microelectronic compatible techniques for the fabrication and characterization of TiO2-CNS thin-film electrodes. To achieve this, vertically standing CNS grown through a catalytic free approach on a TiN/SiO2/Si substrate by plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) was used. The substrate-attached CNS is responsible for the sufficient electronic conduction and increased surface-to-volume ratio due to its unique morphology. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) of nanostructured amorphous TiO2 on CNS provides enhanced Li storage capacity, high rate performance and stable cycling. The amount of deposited TiO2 masks the underlying CNS, thereby controlling the accessibility of CNS, which gets reflected in the total electrochemical performance, as revealed by the cyclic voltammetry and charge/discharge measurements. TiO2 thin-films deposited with 300, 400 and 500 ALD cycles on CNS have been studied to understand the kinetics of Li insertion/extraction. A large potential window of operation (3-0.01 V); the excellent cyclic stability, with a capacity retention of 98% of the initial value; and the remarkable rate capability (up to 100 C) are the highlights of TiO2/CNS thin-film anode structures. CNS with an optimum amount of TiO2 coating is proposed as a promising approach for the fabrication of electrodes for chip compatible thin-film Li-ion batteries.

Three-dimensional self-supported metal oxides for advanced energy storage

The miniaturization of power sources aimed at integration into micro- and nano-electronic devices is a big challenge. To ensure the future development of fully autonomous on-board systems, electrodes based on self-supported 3D nanostructured metal oxides have become increasingly important, and their impact is particularly significant when considering the miniaturization of energy storage systems. This review describes recent advances in the development of self-supported 3D nanostructured metal oxides as electrodes for innovative power sources, particularly Li-ion batteries and electrochemical supercapacitors. Current strategies for the design and morphology control of self-supported electrodes fabricated using template, lithography, anodization and self-organized solution techniques are outlined along with different efforts to improve the storage capacity, rate capability, and cyclability.

SnO2@TiO2 double-shell nanotubes for a lithium ion battery anode with excellent high rate cyclability

SnO2@TiO2 double-shell nanotubes have been facilely synthesized by atomic layer deposition (ALD) using electrospun PAN nanofibers as templates. The double-shell nanotubes exhibited excellent high rate cyclability for lithium ion batteries. The retention of hollow structures during cycling was demonstrated.