Lithium-ion battery anode properties of TiO2 nanotubes prepared by the hydrothermal synthesis of mixed (anatase and rutile) particles

• DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2010.05.052
• Publication Date: 2010-05-22T08:48:07Z
• Authors: Min Gyu Choi; Young-Gi Lee; Seung-Wan Song; Kwang Man Kim
• Keywords: Rutile

Abstract From mixed (anatase and rutile) bulk particles, anatase TiO2 nanotubes are synthesized in this study by an alkaline hydrothermal reaction and a consequent annealing at 300–400 °C. The physical and electrochemical properties of the TiO2 nanotube are investigated for use as an anode active material for lithium-ion batteries. Upon the first discharge–charge sweep and simultaneous impedance measurements at local potentials, this study shows that interfacial resistance decreases significantly when passing lithium ions through a solid electrolyte interface layer at the lithium insertion/deinsertion plateaus of 1.75/2.0 V, corresponding to the redox potentials of anatase TiO2 nanotubes. For an anatase TiO2 nanotube containing minor TiO2(B) phase obtained after annealing at 300 °C, the high-rate capability can be strongly enhanced by an isotropic dispersion of TiO2 nanotubes to yield a discharge capacity higher than 150 mAh g−1, even upon 100 cycles of 10 C-rate discharge–charge operations. This is suitable for use as a high-power anode material for lithium-ion batteries.