SBA-15 confined synthesis of TiNb2O7 nanoparticles for lithium-ion batteries.
Unlike most conventional anode materials, the newly developed TiNb2O7 (TNO) does not form a solid electrolyte interface (SEI) layer, which makes it safe for high power requiring lithium-ion batteries. In this paper, we demonstrated an SBA-15 confined synthetic approach to prepare TNO nanoparticles (S-TNO) with a small particle size around 10 nm and a large BET surface area of 79.5 m(2) g(-1). It is worth mentioning that this is the smallest size reported so far for TNO. In contrast, the TNO (L-TNO) synthesized without SBA-15 has a particle size above 100 nm and a BET surface area of only 4.3 m(2) g(-1). The S-TNO shows better lithium-ion storage properties than L-TNO. The excellent electrochemical performance of S-TNO is attributed to its small crystalline size, which not only provides a larger effective area for better contact between the electrode material and the electrolyte, but also reduces the rate-limiting Li diffusion path. Moreover, S-TNO shows a high Coulombic efficiency (above 98% over 300 cycles) and negligible increase of impedance after cycling, which confirms no SEI layer formation in the operational voltage (1-3 V) of TNO.
Department of Chemical Engineering, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003, USA. hluo@nmsu.edu.
Ling
L
Fei
Yun
Y
Xu
Xiaofei
X
Wu
Yuling
Y
Li
Pu
P
Xie
Shuguang
S
Deng
Sergei
S
Smirnov
Hongmei
H
Luo
D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques; D007477:Ions / Q000737:chemistry; D008094:Lithium / Q000737:chemistry; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D009556:Niobium / Q000737:chemistry*; D010087:Oxides / Q000737:chemistry*; D010316:Particle Size; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry*
D007477:Ions; D010087:Oxides; C509969:SBA-15; D009556:Niobium; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; D008094:Lithium; D014025:Titanium