Low-temperature preparation of mesoporous TiO2 honeycomb-like structure on TiO2 nanotube arrays as binder-free anodes for lithium-ion batteries

Abstract

TiO2 is a typical intercalated-type anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). TiO2 nanotube arrays (NTAs) were prepared by anodic oxidation method on Ti foils. Then treated with TiF4 solution at 60 °C for 4 h, anatase TiO2 honeycomb-like structure (HS) was uniformly distributed on the top of TiO2 NTAs. The thickness and diameter of the generated TiO2 HS are about 59 nm and 121–153 nm, respectively. Furthermore, the TiO2 HS has uniform mesopores (~ 3 nm), which can supply abundant Li-ion diffusion and transport channels. The as-prepared TiO2 NTAs/HS served as binder-free anodes of LIBs and exhibited high invertible specific capacities (290 mAh g−1, 0.1 A g−1 and 96 mAh g−1, 2 A g−1). The TiO2 NTAs/HS electrode also showed a good cycling stability with the specific capacity of 40 mAh g−1 after 1000 cycles at a current density of 1 A g−1. Hence, this low-temperature in situ preparation of mesoporous TiO2 HS is an effective way to improve the performance of TiO2 as anode for LIBs.