Melamine-templated TiO2 nanoparticles as anode with high capacity and cycling stability for lithium-ion batteries

Abstract

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) plays a vital role especially in the field of sustainable energy including photovoltaic, environmental remediation, energy storage devices, and secondary rechargeable batteries. Herein, we report melamine as an efficient soft template to produce gram-scale TiO2 nanoparticles as anode material in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). The X-ray diffraction confirms the formation of anatase phase with high crystallinity, while FESEM and HRTEM reveal a spherical morphology with average size of 10–20 nm. Tested as anode material in LIBs, it demonstrates an excellent electrochemical performance with high discharge capacity of 316 mAh g−1 and 272 mAh g−1 at 0.1C and 1C rates, respectively, with long-term cycle life stability over 1000 cycles. The TiO2 anode when coupled with LiNi0.33Mn0.33Co0.33O2 (NMC) cathode in full cell delivered capacity of 95 mAh g−1 after 30th cycle with about 2 V. The high discharge capacity could originate from high interparticles contact and nanosize features which could permit fast Li-ion diffusion and fast kinetics.