Li-ion Diffusion Kinetics Research Articles

Facile fabrication of Li5Cr7Ti6O25@Li0.33La0.56TiO3 composites as promising anode materials for high-performance Li-ion batteries

Li5Cr7Ti6O25 has been considerd as a hopeful anode material of Li-ion batteries due to the low cost. Nonetheless, the intrinsically low conductivity obviously reduces reversible capacity and cycle performance. In this work, we design Li5Cr7Ti6O25@Li0.33La0.56TiO3 (LCTO@LLTO) composites by simple ball-milling process followed by a post-calcination at air atmosphere, which realizes an excellent cycle performance. The Li0.33La0.56TiO3 (LLTO) coating does not alter the morphology and particle size of the Li5Cr7Ti6O25 (LCTO) material, but increses the lattice parameter. The right level LLTO modification can improve the transfer ability of ions and electrons with enhanced lithiation/delithiation dynamics, making a good cycling stability and rate capability of as-prepared LCTO anode. As a result, LCTO@LLTO(5 wt%) shows a high charge capacity of 149.8 mAh g−1 even at 1C in the 50th cycle, much higher than that LCTO with a capacity of 126.3 mAh g−1. The improved electrochemical performance of LCTO@LLTO composites can be attribute to the enhanced Li ion diffusion kinetics, electrochemical reversibility and ion conductivity by LLTO modification. Therefore, the LLTO modificationcan be regarded as an efficient way for construct the anode materials for high-perfprmance Li-ion batteries.

A Li3PO4 coating strategy to enhance the Li-ion transport properties of Li2ZnTi3O8 anode material for Lithium-ion Battery

Li2ZnTi3O8 (LZTO) has been highlighted as a promising active anode material for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, but it suffers from a low high-rate capacity due to the sluggish Li-ion diffusion kinetics and inevitable consumption of Li+ due to side reactions at the electrode/electrolyte interface. In this study, using Li3PO4 as a lithium ion conductor and interface modifier, the crystal structure and electrochemical properties of LZTO are systematically studied and confirm that it is a faster lithium ion conductivity. Li3PO4 not only accelerates Li-ion transport and increases diffusion paths, but also exhibits interfacial stability at high temperatures. Due to these advantages, the LZTO electrode containing the Li3PO4 coating layer exhibits significantly improved electrochemical performance. The new Li3PO4 coated LZTO electrode shows a large discharge specific capacity of 158.9 mAh g − 1 and a high capacity retention of 99% is obtained after 200 cycles at a rate of 5.0 A g − 1 and combined with cycle stability. Furthermore, the Li3PO4 coated LZTO electrode also exhibits excellent low electrode polarization and high temperature long cycling performance for 500 cycles at temperatures up to 70 °C.

Facile synthesis of urchin-like MoNb12O33 microspheres with a superior performance as an anode material for lithium-ion half/full batteries

Monoclinic MoNb12O33 is a promising material for the anode of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) owing to its high safety, long-term cyclability, and large capacity. However, its practical use is limited by its poor electrical conductivity and sluggish Li-ion diffusion kinetics. Constructing three-dimensional MoNb12O33 micro-/nano structures can be used to overcome these drawbacks. Herein, we report a new simple hydrothermal method for synthesizing urchin-like MoNb12O33 (U-MoNb12O33) microspheres with a 3D hierarchical structure and comprising of one-dimensional radially oriented nanorods. This unique structure of U-MoNb12O33 not only exhibited fast ion/electron transport kinetics but also had structural stability and high tap density, which significantly improved the Li+ storage properties. When used as the anode for LIBs, the U-MoNb12O33 microspheres exhibited high practical capacity (298 mA h g−1 at 0.5 C), superior rate capability (168 mA h g−1 at 20 C), and excellent cyclability (capacity retention of 90 % over 500 cycles at 10 C). Furthermore, an LiNi0.5Mn0.3Co0.2O2||U-MoNb12O33 full cell exhibited outstanding electrochemical performance, including a large capacity, good rate performance, and especially ultra-long cyclability (capacity retention of 77 % after 2500 cycles at 10 C). These results indicate that U-MoNb12O33 is a promising anode material for next-generation high-rate LIBs.

Facile design of alloy-based hybrid layer to stabilize lithium metal anode

Lithium (Li) metal has been considered a promising anode candidate for next-generation energy-storage applications due to its ultrahigh capacity. However, the uncontrolled dendrite growth and continuous side reactions challenge the cycle life and practical application. Herein, by a facile and mild solution method, we build a compact LiZn alloy-based hybrid layer on the Li-metal surface. This hybrid layer exhibits favorable chemical stability, excellent wettability to electrolyte, and enhanced thermodynamic affinity to Li. As a result, the hybrid layer modified lihtium metal anode (HL-Li) enables accelerated Li-ion diffusion kinetics and dense Li deposition. Through the operando cell evaluation, moreover, we demonstrate that the hybrid layer restricts the Li dendrite growth of Li metal anodes effectively by reducing the volume expansion to half. Endowed with both thermodynamic and kinetic superiority, HL-Li exhibits low overpotential and prolonged cycles in both symmetric cells and full cells. Our work confirms the lithiophilic hybrid layer obtained by a facile solution process to enable dendrite-free deposition, providing a guidance for the synthesis of high-performance Li metal anode materials.

Encapsulate lithium sulfide cathodes with carbon-doped MoS2 for fast kinetics in lithium-sulfur batteries, a theoretical study

Li2S-based lithium-sulfur batteries represent a novel potential energy-storage device with high energy-density and superior safety. Metal sulfide surface coating has been regarded as an effective way to improve electrical and dynamic properties of Li2S cathode. We predict that encapsulate Li2S with MoS2 is a potential cathode material that outperforms Li2S@graphene in some aspects. The poor conductivity of MoS2 can be alleviated by doping carbon atoms, which also serve as the catalytic sites to catalyze the activation of Li2S. The doped C atoms in MoS2 surface greatly enhance the Li2S binding strength via the formation of S−C bonds, a pz-pz interaction that is not available in pristine MoS2. Such strong interaction facilitates the decomposition of adsorbed Li2S, thus lowering the activation voltage in the first charge cycle. Although increase the number of C atoms catalyze the decomposition of Li2S, the compact distribution and collective C atoms may hinder the diffusion of Li ion by forming an electrostatic potential well, split lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) by excessively strong S−C interaction, and raise the rate determining step free energy of the S8 to Li2S conversion during discharge process, thus a balance between them is required. Single carbon atom doped MoS2 model balances these factors and shows an excellent electrochemical performance, including improved conductivity, enhanced LiPSs affinity, lowered Li2S decomposition barrier, facilitated Li ion diffusion and fast kinetics of the conversion of LiPSs. This work is instructive in fabricating Li2S cathode with metal sulfides and doping architectures for practical Li-S batteries.

Nonflammable, localized high-concentration electrolyte towards a high-safety lithium metal battery

The use of high-concentration electrolytes (HCEs) is a promising way to stabilize the lithium metal anode, but their high viscosity and poor wettability impede good Li-ion diffusion kinetics. More importantly, most electrolytes are still highly flammable that pose safety risks to lithium metal batteries. Introducing diluent in HCEs provides more possibilities for multifunctional electrolyte design. Here we report an ether-based, nonflammable localized high-concentration electrolyte (LHCE), with fire-retardant fluorinated phosphazene as a multifunctional diluent, that provides much better safety and dendrite suppression ability than normal electrolytes and HCEs. The diluent makes the salt anions to dominate the solvation sheath, which weaken the interaction between Li ions and the solvated molecules, lowering the desolvation energy for Li plating and guiding the formation of an inorganic-rich solid electrolyte interphase. As a result, lithium plating/stripping on a Cu foil with such a LHCE has a high average Coulombic efficiency of 97.8% at a high current density and capacity (5 mA/cm2 and 5 mAh/cm2). The assembled full cell has a long cycling stability, even with an ultralow capacity ratio of the negative/positive electrodes of 1.2. This work presents a new strategy for producing practical lithium metal batteries with high safety and excellent stability.

Two Birds with One Stone: Prelithiated Two-Dimensional Nanohybrids as High-Performance Anode Materials for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

As an inexpensive and naturally abundant two-dimensional (2D) material, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) exhibits a high Li-ion storage capacity along with a low volume expansion upon lithiation, rendering it an alternative anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, the challenge of using MoS2-based anodes is their intrinsically low electrical conductivity and unsatisfied cycle stability. To address the above issues, we have exploited a wet chemical technique and integrated MoS2 with highly conductive titanium carbide (Ti3C2) MXene to form a 2D nanohybrid. The binary hybrids were then subjected to an n-butyllithium (n-Buli) treatment to induce both MoS2 deep phase transition and MXene surface functionality modulation simultaneously. We observed a substantial increase in 1T-phase MoS2 content and a clear suppression of -F-containing functional groups in MXene due to the prelithiation process enabled by the n-Buli treatment. Such an approach not only increases the overall network conductivity but also improves Li-ion diffusion kinetics. As a result, the MoS2/Ti3C2 composite with n-Buli treatment delivered a high Li-ion storage capacity (540 mA h g-1 at 100 mA g-1), outstanding cycle stability (up to 300 cycles), and excellent rate capability. This work provides an effective strategy for the structure-property engineering of 2D materials and sheds light on the rational design of high-performance LIBs using 2D-based anode materials.

A three-dimensionally hierarchical interconnected silicon-based composite for long-cycle-life anodes towards advanced Li-ion batteries

Although the utilization of conducting polymers in silicon anodes as both a conductive agent and binder is extremely attractive, key challenges exist in maintaining constant electric connectivity with silicon, especially during long-term cycling. In addition to the in-situ formation of polyaniline (PANI) encapsulating silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs) inside, herein PANI is also used as a three-dimensional (3D) bridge to interconnect the outside carbon nanotubes functionalized with carboxyl groups (CNFs-COOH) via electrostatic attraction and π-π conjugation. Further improvements in Li-ion diffusion kinetics and cycling properties can be achieved by low-temperature sintering the double-protected SiNPs without destruction of the 3D PANI conductive skeleton. Such a novel composite (i.e. Si@C/PANI-CNT) with a 3D hierarchically interconnected architecture containing 52 wt% SiNPs delivers a high discharge capacity of 879 mAh g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 with a capacity loss of 0.084% per cycle after 500 cycles. Increasing the current density to 1 A g−1, no big change in the 500th discharge capacity (817 mAh g−1) is found and the specific capacity still stabilizes around 605 mAh g−1 over 1000 cycles.

Material Optimization Engineering toward xLiFePO4·yLi3V2(PO4)3 Composites in Application-Oriented Li-Ion Batteries.

The development of LiFePO4 (LFP) in high-power energy storage devices is hampered by its slow Li-ion diffusion kinetics. Constructing the composite electrode materials with vanadium substitution is a scientific endeavor to boost LFP’s power capacity. Herein, a series of xLiFePO4·yLi3V2(PO4)3 (xLFP·yLVP) composites were fabricated using a simple spray-drying approach. We propose that 5LFP·LVP is the optimal choice for Li-ion battery promotion, owning to its excellent Li-ion storage capacity (material energy density of 413.6 W·h·kg−1), strong machining capability (compacted density of 1.82 g·cm−3) and lower raw material cost consumption. Furthermore, the 5LFP·LVP||LTO Li-ion pouch cell also presents prominent energy storage capability. After 300 cycles of a constant current test at 400 mA, 75% of the initial capacity (379.1 mA·h) is achieved, with around 100% of Coulombic efficiency. A capacity retention of 60.3% is displayed for the 300th cycle when discharging at 1200 mA, with the capacity fading by 0.15% per cycle. This prototype provides a valid and scientific attempt to accelerate the development of xLFP·yLVP composites in application-oriented Li-ion batteries.

Periodically aligned channels in Li[Ni0.5Co0.2Mn0.3]O2 cathodes designed by laser ablation for high power Li ion batteries

Lithium-ion batteries are widely used in electric vehicles (EVs) owing to their high energy density and cycling stability. However, achieving high driving mileage per charging time under high electrode mass loading remains a significant challenge for high performance EVs. Herein, a new strategy to improve the rate capability of thick electrodes is proposed based on the laser ablation, which generates periodically aligned channels in the electrodes. To investigate the effect of porosity and interfacial area on the power performance, Li[Ni0.5Co0.2Mn0.3]O2 cathode-based laser-processed electrodes (LPEs) are fabricated by adjusting the spacing and depth of channels. Comparing the relative capacity of C16C/C0.25C, LPEs shows improved value of 19.83%, whereas the conventional electrodes (CEs) of 0.08%. Furthermore, the rate capability of LPEs is superior to that of CEs under the same mass loading, arising from the formation of the channels rather than the mass loss evolved during the laser ablation. The exceptional rate capability of LPEs is attributed to the alleviated activation/concentration polarization, enhanced Li-ion diffusion kinetics, and reduced tortuosity. The laser ablation is an effective strategy, as it can be compatible with any cathode and anode materials.

Unusual pseudocapacitive lithium-ion storage on defective Co3O4 nanosheets

Secondary lithium-ion batteries are restricted in large-scale applications including power grids and long driving electric vehicles owing to the low specific capacity of conventional intercalation anodes possessing sluggish Li-ion diffusion kinetics. Herein, we demonstrate an unusual pseudocapacitive lithium-ion storage on defective Co3O4 nanosheet anodes for high-performance rechargeable batteries. Cobalt-oxide nanosheets presented here composed of various defects including vacancies, dislocations and grain boundaries. Unique 2D holey microstructure enabled efficient charge transport as well as provided room for volume expansions associated with lithiation-delithiation process. These defective anodes exhibited outstanding pseudocapacitance (up to 87%), reversible capacities (1490 mAh g–1 @ 25 mA g–1), rate capability (592 mAh g–1 @ 30 A g–1), stable cycling (85% after 500 cycles @ 1 A g–1) and columbic efficiency (∼100%). Exceptional Li-ion storage phenomena in defective Co3O4 nanosheets is accredited to the pseudocapacitive nature of conversion reaction resulting from ultrafast Li-ion diffusion through various crystal defects. The demonstrated approach of defect-induced pseudocapacitance can also be protracted for various low-cost and/or eco-friendly transition metal-oxides for next-generation rechargeable batteries.

Improving the electrochemical performances of Li-rich Li1.2Ni0.13Co0.13Mn0.54O2 through cooperative doping of Na+ and Mg2+

Lithium-rich manganese-based oxides are included in high-capacity cathodes. Herein we introduce a certain amount of Mg and Na into lithium-rich manganese-based oxide microspheres to overcome the weak cycling performance and poor rate capacity. This work uses the hydrothermal method combined with the high-temperature solid-phase method and CH3COONa and C4H14MgO8 as dopants. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and electrochemical characterization are performed to systematically assess the effect of Na and Mg element doping on the morphology, structure and electrochemical characteristics of Li1.2Ni0.13Co0.13Mn0.54O2. The results show that the material has excellent electrochemical performance. These improvements could be related to the presence of Na in Li layers and Mg in TM layers, which can speed up Li-ion diffusion kinetics and improve ionic and electronic conductivity. DFT calculations demonstrate that the injection of Na and Mg reduces the lithium-ion migration barrier energy. This dual-doped modification technique may help researchers better understand how to build high-capacity and stable cathode materials for LIBs.

A perspective on energy chemistry of low-temperature lithium metal batteries

Dendrite growth of lithium (Li) metal anode severely hinders its practical application, while the situation becomes more serious at low temperatures due to the sluggish kinetics of Li-ion diffusion. This perspective is intended to clearly understand the energy chemistry of low-temperature Li metal batteries (LMBs). The low-temperature chemistries between LMBs and traditional Li-ion batteries are firstly compared to figure out the features of the low-temperature LMBs. Li deposition behaviors at low temperatures are then discussed concerning the variation in Li-ion diffusion behaviors and solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) features. Subsequently, the strategies to enhance the diffusion kinetics of Li ions and suppress dendrite growth including designing electrolytes and electrode/electrolyte interfaces are analyzed. Finally, conclusions and outlooks are drawn to shed lights on the future design of high-performance low-temperature LMBs.

Regulating the electronic structure of MoO2/Mo2C/C by heterostructure and oxygen vacancies for boosting lithium storage kinetics.

The electronic structure regulation of electrode materials can improve the ion/electron kinetics, which is beneficial to the cyclic performance and rate capability for lithium ion batteries (LIBs). Herein, we propose a facile strategy to achieve a MoO2/Mo2C/C heterostructure with abundant oxygen vacancies. Density functional theory calculations indicate that the heterostructure of MoO2/Mo2C/C can significantly promote the Li+/charge transfer and reduce the Li adsorption energy, and the abundant oxygen vacancies in MoO2/Mo2C/C can improve the intrinsic electronic conductivity and reduce the Li+ diffusion barrier. Benefiting from the multiscale coordinated regulation, the obtained MoO2/Mo2C/C film exhibits outstanding high rate capability (454.7 mA h g-1 at 5 A g-1) and remarkable cyclic performance (retaining 569 mA h g-1 over 1000 cycles at 2 A g-1). The insightful findings in this study can shed light on the behavior of the electron/ion structure regulation by the heterostructure and oxygen vacancies, which can guide future studies on designing other electrode materials with high-performance lithium-ion storage.

Oxygen Vacancies Boosting Lithium-Ion Diffusion Kinetics of Lithium Germanate for High-Performance Lithium Storage.

Oxygen vacancies play a positive role in optimizing the physical and chemical properties of metal oxides. In this work, we demonstrated oxygen vacancy-promoted enhancement of Li-ion diffusion kinetics in Li2GeO3 nanoparticle-encapsulated carbon nanofibers (denoted as Li2GeO3-x/C) and accordingly boosted lithium storage. The introduction of the oxygen vacancies in Li2GeO3-x/C can enhance electronic conductivity and evidently decrease activation energy of Li-ion transport, thus resulting in evidently accelerated Li-ion diffusion kinetics during the lithiation/delithiation process. Thus, the Li2GeO3-x/C nanofibers exhibit an exceptionally large discharge capacity of 1460.5 mA h g-1 at 0.1 A g-1, high initial Coulombic efficiency of 81.3%, and excellent rate capability. This facile and efficient strategy could provide a reference for injecting the oxygen vacancies into other metal oxides for high-performance anode materials.

Precisely Tunable T-Nb2O5 Nanotubes via Atomic Layer Deposition for Fast-Charging Lithium-Ion Batteries.

The demand for fast-charging of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) in modern electric transportation and wearable electronics is rapidly growing. However, commercially available graphite anodes still suffer from slow kinetics of lithium-ion diffusion and severe safety concerns of lithium plating when achieving the fast-charging goal. Here, it is demonstrated that the Li-ion diffusion kinetics of orthorhombic Nb2O5 nanotubes (T-Nb2O5 NTs) is enhanced by atomically precise manufacturing of nanoarchitectures. The controlled fabrication of T-Nb2O5 NTs with wall thicknesses from 24 to 43 nm is realized via atomic layer deposition (ALD) using electrospun polyacrylonitrile nanofibers as a sacrificing template. The wall thickness of T-Nb2O5 NTs can be precisely tuned by adjusting the number of ALD cycles. The relationship between the wall thicknesses and electrochemical performances is investigated in detail. The electrochemical kinetic analysis suggests that the lithium storage in T-Nb2O5 NTs is dominated by surface and intercalation pseudocapacitance. The morphology of T-Nb2O5 crystallites is found to have significant effects on the Li-ion insertion/extraction kinetics and the performance of the electrodes in LIBs. The resulting T-Nb2O5 NTs exhibit fast charge-storage kinetics and enable highly reversible insertion/extraction of Li ions without a phase change. This work may open up a new avenue for further development of intercalation-pseudocapacitive nanostructured materials for high-rate and ultrastable energy-storage devices.

Hierarchical self-assembled SnS@N-S dual-doped carbon microflower spheres as anode for high performance lithium-ion batteries

Abstract Stannous sulfide (SnS) with low-cost and high theoretical specific capacity possesses enormous potential in the application of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, the sluggish Li ion diffusion kinetics and severe volume variation of SnS, result in inferior rate capability and poor cycling stability. Hollow SnS microflower spheres coated with N, S dual-doped carbon (H-SnS@NSC) are constructed through a facile hydrothermal reaction, polydopamine encapsulation and subsequent carbonization process. Such rational hollow structure is conducive to enhance the structural stability of the material. More importantly, N, S dual-doped carbon is synergistically coupled with SnS, which can greatly improve the electrons/ions kinetics and mitigate the volume expansion. As consequence, the H-SnS@NSC composite electrode exhibits an admirable specific capacity of 778.5 mAh g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 after 400 cycles. It still remains a specific capacity of 633.8 mAh g−1 after 800 cycles even at 1.0 A g−1, corresponding to 81.7% of initial capacity. After being assembled into a full cell, the device delivers a stable capacity of 317 mAh g−1 at 0.1 A g−1. This work manifests that morphology and structure engineering have bright prospects in promoting the practical applications for metal sulfides.

Hierarchical hybrid nanostructure of 1T-tungsten disulfide quantum dots/multihollow capillary bundle-type mesoporous carbon for ultrafast and ultrastable lithium storage

Transition metal dichalcogenides such as tungsten disulfide (WS2), a typical 2D layered structure, have attracted increasing attention as promissing anode materials for ultrafast Li-ion batteries (LIBs), because of their high theoretical specific capacity and excellent Li-ion diffusion kinetics. Furthermore, the ionic/electrical properties of WS2, which can improve ultrafast cycling performance, can be effectively enhanced by its unique metallic phase (1T-WS2). Despite these significant advantages, the application of WS2 anodes is limited by critical issues such as large volume expansion and poor ultrafast cycling performance, because the control and synthesis of nano-sized 1T-WS2 crystals is difficult.Therefore, to improve the ultrafast and ultrastable Li storage of LIBs, herein, a novel architecture comprising 1T-WS2 quantum dots (QDs) embedded in mesoporous carbon nanofibers (PCNFs) with multihollow capillary bundle-type mesopores is proposed. This novel hierarchical hybrid nanostructure exhibits a high specific capacity (716.5 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles at 100 mA g−1) and an outstanding rate capability, because of increased Li-ion storage sites and fast Li-ion diffusion and significant ultrafast cycling capacity (528.1 mAh g−1) and long-term cycling stability (87.8% after 1000 cycles) under ultrafast cycling conditions (2000 mA g−1). The increase in the Li storage sites is attributed to the high specific capacity due to the well-dispersed 1T-WS2 QDs in the PCNFs; the increased Li-ion transfer rate is attributed to the high rate capability due to the multihollow capillary bundle-type mesopores; the long-term cycling stability is attributed to the WS2 QDs embedded within the PCNFs, which effectively prevent volume expansion.

Electrochemical Performance Enhancement of Nitrogen-Doped TiO2 for Lithium-Ion Batteries Investigated by a Film Electrode Model

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is proposed as a promising anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to its highly stable structure and slight side reaction at the electrode/electrolyte interface. The low specific capacity and slow Li-ion diffusion kinetics are the major bottlenecks for the actual application of TiO2. It is thus important to exploit viable pathways to enhance the electrochemical performance and understand the corresponding mechanisms. In this work, high-quality amorphous TiO2 (TO) and anatase TiO2 (cTO) film electrodes are employed to investigate the bulk electrochemical performance by minimizing the surface contribution. At the same time, nitrogen (N) doping is performed for further comparison. The results show that TO has a relatively lower specific capacity than cTO. However, N-doped TO (TON) presents a specific capacity more than 4 times higher than TO and 3 times higher than cTO. TON also exhibits a significantly improved initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE) and a relatively higher Li-ion diffusion coefficient. Our study shows that the superior electrochemical performance of TON is correlated to the synergistic effects of the bulk pseudocapacitor and battery characteristics.

Polydopamine-derived N-doped carbon-coated porous TiNb2O7 microspheres as anode materials with superior rate performance for lithium-ion batteries

TiNb2O7 is considered as a promising anode material for high-power lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to its significantly high rate performance, safety, and reversible capacity. However, its application is limited by its sluggish Li-ion diffusion kinetics and poor electrical conductivity. Herein, N-doped carbon-coated porous TiNb2O7 microspheres were successfully synthesized via solvothermal route and the subsequent carbonization process using polydopamine as a nitrided and carbon precursor. The resulting TiNb2O7@N-C composite exhibited a significant high-rate capability (201 mAh g−1 at 30 C) and superior cycling stability (capacity retention of 97.1% at 10 C after 500 cycles). Additionally, the TiNb2O7@N-C composite also performed well in a LiNi0.5Mn0.3Co0.2O4||TiNb2O7@N-C full cell (128 mAh g−1 at 10 C after 500 cycles with a capacity retention of 91.7%). These results indicate that the TiNb2O7@N-C composite possesses significant potential for application as an anode material for next-generation high-rate LIBs.