Aerosol-Assisted Heteroassembly of Oxide Nanocrystals and Carbon Nanotubes into 3D Mesoporous Composites for High-Rate Electrochemical Energy Storage.

Abstract

Nanostructured composites built from ordinary building units have attracted much attention because of their collective properties for critical applications. Herein, we have demonstrated the heteroassembly of carbon nanotubes and oxide nanocrystals using an aerosol spray method to prepare nanostructured mesoporous composites for electrochemical energy storage. The designed composite architectures show high conductivity and hierarchically structured mesopores, which achieve rapid electron and ion transport in electrodes. Therefore, as-synthesized carbon nanotube/TiO2 electrodes exhibit high rate performance through rapid Li(+) intercalation, making them suitable for ultrafast energy storage devices. Moreover, the synthesis process provides a broadly applicable method to achieve the heteroassembly of vast low-dimensional building blocks for many important applications.