Highly pseudocapacitive Nb-doped TiO2 high power anodes for lithium-ion batteries

Mechthild Lübke; Juhun Shin; Peter Marchand; Dan Brett; Paul Shearing; Zhaolin Liu; Jawwad A. Darr

doi:10.1039/C5TA07554H

Highly pseudocapacitive Nb-doped TiO₂ high power anodes for lithium-ion batteries†

Mechthild Lübke,^ab Juhun Shin,^a Peter Marchand,^a Dan Brett,^c Paul Shearing,^c Zhaolin Liu^b and Jawwad A. Darr*^a

* Corresponding authors

^a Christopher Ingold Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London, UK
E-mail: j.a.darr@ucl.ac.uk

^b Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), 3 Research Link, Singapore 117602, Singapore

^c Department of Chemical Engineering, University College London, Torrington Place, London, UK

Abstract

Nb-doped TiO₂ (anatase) nanoparticles were synthesized using a continuous hydrothermal flow synthesis reactor using a supercritical water flow as a reagent and crystallizing medium. The as-prepared nano-powders with ca. 25 at% Nb⁵⁺ (<6 nm diameter) were used as possible anodes for lithium-ion batteries without any further heat-treatment. Cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge/discharge cycling tests were performed in the range of 1.2 to 3.0 V vs. Li/Li⁺. The Nb-doped TiO₂ samples showed superior capacity retention at high current rates compared to the corresponding undoped nano-TiO₂. The superior performance of the doped samples (at specific currents up to 15 A g⁻¹) was attributed to higher electronic conductivity and a greater charge storage contribution from surface effects like pseudocapacitance (Faradaic processes) as well as Helmholtz double layer charge storage.

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Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C5TA07554H
Article type: Paper
Submitted: 21 Sep 2015
Accepted: 29 Sep 2015
First published: 01 Oct 2015
This article is Open Access

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J. Mater. Chem. A, 2015,3, 22908-22914

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Highly pseudocapacitive Nb-doped TiO₂ high power anodes for lithium-ion batteries

M. Lübke, J. Shin, P. Marchand, D. Brett, P. Shearing, Z. Liu and J. A. Darr, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2015, 3, 22908 DOI: 10.1039/C5TA07554H

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Journal of Materials Chemistry A