Thermal convection induced TiO2 microclews as superior electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries

Abstract

One great challenge of lithium-ion battery (LIB) commercialization is to achieve high rate capacity at large mass loading density. Here, a thermal-convection hydrothermal method was newly designed and developed to synthesize TiO₂ microclews (TiO₂ MCs) for their use as LIB electrode materials. The unique MC architecture could be immobilized on a carbon cloth collector uniformly to form a 3D flexible conductive network (TiO₂ MCs@CC), which facilitates fast Li-ion and electron transport and promotes continuous lithiation reaction during the charge–discharge process. With these merits, TiO₂ MCs@CC with high loading density (up to 4 mg cm⁻²) exhibits ultra-high rate performance (75 mA h g⁻¹ at an extremely high current density of 4000 mA g⁻¹), outstanding long-cycling life (74 mA h g⁻¹ over 1000 cycles at a specific current density of 2000 mA g⁻¹) and a high initial coulombic efficiency (ICE) of 82%. The demonstrated advantages open up possibilities for fabricating ultrafast rechargeable LIBs with potential industrial applications.