Watermelon-like TiO <sub>2</sub> nanoparticle (P25)@microporous amorphous carbon sphere with excellent rate capability and cycling performance for lithium-ion batteries
Yinan Zheng, Y.F. Yuan, Zhengbang Tong, Hong Yin, Simin Yin, S.Y. Guo
Abstract
Abstract To overcome the inferior rate capability and cycling performance of TiO 2 nanomaterials as an anode material of lithium-ion batteries, we encapsulate TiO 2 nanoparticles (P25) in carbon spheres through a facile pyrrole polymerization and carbonization. Material characterization demonstrates TiO 2 nanoparticles are uniformly embedded in microporous amorphous carbon spheres, forming a watermelon-like structure. P25@C exhibits excellent high rate capability with average discharge capacity of 496, 416, 297, 240, 180, 99, 49 and 25 mAh g −1 at current rate of 0.5C, 1C, 5C, 10C, 20C, 50C, 100C and 200C, which shows superior long-term cycling performance with discharge capacity of 106.9 mAh g −1 at 20C after 5000 cycles. The capacity loss rate is only 0.008% per cycle. The outstanding lithium storage performance is ascribed to the watermelon-like composite structure, which remarkably improves electronic conductivity and structure stability of TiO 2 nanoparticles. More importantly, the agglomeration of TiO 2 nanoparticles is eliminated, and the entire surface of every TiO 2 nanoparticle participates in the electrochemical reaction, which brings about an intense capacitive Li storage effect and leads to the high specific capacity and excellent rate capability of P25@C. This is confirmed through qualitative and quantitative analysis of the contributions from surface capacitive storage and bulk intercalation storage to the total capacity of the composite.