Bio-ingredient assisted formation of porous TiO2 for Li-ion battery electrodes

Abstract

Macroporous TiO₂ was synthesized by using low-cost bio-ingredients as the pore forming templates. TiCl₄ in C₂H₅OH_(l) containing NH₄OH_(aq.) was polymerized in the presence of instant yeast and glucose. The organic–inorganic hybrid precursor was further processed to generate macroporous anatase TiO₂ (pore size: 2.5–3 μm) with mesopores (4–51 nm). The porous TiO₂ was coated with a thin layer of carbon by chemical vapour deposition to generate the hierarchical C/TiO₂ nanocomposite material. The porous products were investigated as anode materials for Li-ion batteries. The capacities of the hierarchical C/TiO₂ electrode material remained 180 mA h g⁻¹ and 142 mA h g⁻¹ under high charge/discharge rates of 5 C and 10 C, respectively. It demonstrated good cycling stability of 318 mA h g⁻¹ at 0.1 C at various discharge–charge rates. The excellent performance is attributed to the high specific surface areas and open spaces of the C/TiO₂ allowing effortless intercalation/deintercalation of Li ions.