Facile synthesis of rutile TiO2/carbon nanosheet composite from MAX phase for lithium storage

Abstract

Titanium oxide (TiO2), with excellent cycling stability and low volume expansion, is a promising anode material for lithium-ion battery (LIB), which suffers from low electrical conductivity and poor rate capability. Combining nano-sized TiO2 with conductive materials is proved an efficient method to improve its electrochemical properties. Here, rutile TiO2/carbon nanosheet was obtained by calcinating MAX (Ti3AlC2) and Na2CO3 together and water-bathing with HCl. The lamellar carbon atoms in MAX are converted to 2D carbon nanosheets with urchin-like rutile TiO2 anchored on. The unique architecture can offer plentiful active sites, shorten the ion diffusion distance and improve the conductivity. The composite exhibits a high reversible capacity of 247 mA h g−1, excellent rate performance (38 mA h g−1 at 50 C) and stable cycling performance (0.014% decay per cycle during 2000 cycles) for lithium storage.