Investigations on the electrochemical characteristics of electrophoretically deposited NiTiO3 negative electrode for lithium-ion rechargeable cells

Abstract

Due to high theoretical capacities, high energy densities, and widespread abundance, transition metal oxides have attracted much attention as negative electrode materials for Li-ion batteries (LIBs). We report herein the facile synthesis and fabrication of nickel titanate (NiTiO3) electrodes as potential anodes for LIBs. NiTiO3 (NTO) was synthesized by a conventional sol–gel process, and then a NTO-carbon black film was deposited on Cu foil by a simple electrophoretic deposition (EPD) technique. The NTO-carbon black electrode delivers a stable reversible specific capacity of 281 mA h g−1 at a specific current of 50 mA g−1 after 100 cycles. At a high specific current of 1.6 A g−1, the electrode exhibits a specific capacity of 130 mA h g−1. When the NTO-carbon black electrode of the same composition was fabricated by a conventional tape-casting process, it showed rapid capacity fading and poor rate performance. Microstructural analysis has revealed that EPD-grown electrodes have a uniform distribution of NTO particles surrounded by carbon black particles. Such microstructure, coupled with good adherence of the deposited film on the Cu current collector, helps to mitigate the large volume changes that occur during cycling for conversion-type NTO material and thereby improves its electrochemical properties.