Nanoengineering to Achieve High Sodium Storage: A Case Study of Carbon Coated Hierarchical Nanoporous TiO2Microfibers.
Nanoengineering of electrode materials can directly facilitate sodium ion accessibility and transport, thus enhancing electrochemical performance in sodium ion batteries. Here, highly sodium-accessible carbon coated nanoporous TiO2microfibers have been synthesised via the facile electrospinning technique which can deliver an enhanced capacity of ≈167 mAh g-1after 450 cycles at current density of 50 mA g-1and retain a capacity of ≈71 mAh g-1at the high current rate of 1 A g-1. With the benefits of their porous structure, thin TiO2inner walls, and the introduction of conductive carbon, the nanoporous TiO2/C microfibers exhibit high ion accessibility, fast Na ion transport, and fast electron transport, thereby leading to the excellent Na-storage properties presented here. Nanostructuring is proven to be a fruitful strategy that can alleviate the reliance on materials' intrinsic nature; and the electrospinning technique is versatile and cost-effective for the fabrication of such an effective nanoporous microfiber structure.
Laboratory of Bioinspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of the Ministry of Education Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioinspired Energy Materials and Devices School of Chemistry and Environment Beihang University Beijing 100191 P.R. China; Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials (ISEM) Innovation Campus University of Wollongong Wollongong NSW 2519 Australia.
Nü
N
Wang
Laboratory of Bioinspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of the Ministry of Education Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioinspired Energy Materials and Devices School of Chemistry and Environment Beihang University Beijing 100191 P.R. China.
Yuan
Y
Gao
Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials (ISEM) Innovation Campus University of Wollongong Wollongong NSW 2519 Australia.
Yun-Xiao
YX
Wang
Laboratory of Bioinspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of the Ministry of Education Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioinspired Energy Materials and Devices School of Chemistry and Environment Beihang University Beijing 100191 P.R. China.
Kai
K
Liu
Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials (ISEM) Innovation Campus University of Wollongong Wollongong NSW 2519 Australia.
Weihong
W
Lai
Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials (ISEM) Innovation Campus University of Wollongong Wollongong NSW 2519 Australia.
Yemin
Y
Hu
Laboratory of Bioinspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of the Ministry of Education Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioinspired Energy Materials and Devices School of Chemistry and Environment Beihang University Beijing 100191 P.R. China.
Yong
Y
Zhao
Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials (ISEM) Innovation Campus University of Wollongong Wollongong NSW 2519 Australia.
Shu-Lei
SL
Chou
Laboratory of Bioinspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of the Ministry of Education Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioinspired Energy Materials and Devices School of Chemistry and Environment Beihang University Beijing 100191 P.R. China.
Lei
L
Jiang
TiO2 anode; electrospinning; nanoporous microfibers; sodium‐ion battery