Facile Aluminum Reduction Synthesis of Blue TiO2 with Oxygen Deficiency for Lithium-Ion Batteries.
An ultrafacile aluminum reduction method is reported herein for the preparation of blue TiO2 nanoparticles (donated as Al-TiO2 , anatase phase) with abundant oxygen deficiency for lithium-ion batteries. Under aluminum reduction, the morphology of the TiO2 nanosheets changes from well-defined rectangular into uniform round or oval nanoparticles and the particle size also decreases from 60 to 31 nm, which can aggressively accelerate the lithium-ion diffusion. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) results reveal that plentiful oxygen deficiencies relative to the Ti(3+) species were generated in blue Al-TiO2 ; this effectively enhances the electron conductivity of the TiO2 . X-ray photoelectron spectrometry (XPS) analysis indicates that a small peak is observed for the Al-O bond, which probably plays a very important role in the stabilization of the oxygen deficiencies/Ti(3+) species. As a result, the blue Al-TiO2 possesses significantly higher capacity, better rate performance, and a longer cycle life than the white pure TiO2 . Such improvements can be attributed to the decreased particle size, as well as the existence of the oxygen deficiencies/Ti(3+) species.
Collage of Materials Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Yudao St. 29, 210016, Nanjing (P. R. China).
Jing
J
Zheng
Collage of Materials Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Yudao St. 29, 210016, Nanjing (P. R. China). gbji@nuaa.eu.cn.
Guangbin
G
Ji
Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yuquan St. 19, 100049, Beijing (P. R. China).
Peng
P
Zhang
Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yuquan St. 19, 100049, Beijing (P. R. China).
Xingzhong
X
Cao
Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yuquan St. 19, 100049, Beijing (P. R. China).
Baoyi
B
Wang
Linghui
L
Yu
Zhichuan J
ZJ
Xu
aluminum; fuel cells; lithium-ion batteries; oxygen; reduction; titanium