Crystallinity-controlled titanium oxide-carbon nanocomposites with enhanced lithium storage performance

Nanocomposites of crystalline-controlled TiO₂-carbon are prepared by a novel one-step approach and applied in anodes of lithium ion batteries. In our nanocomposite anodes, the Li⁺ capacity contribution from the TiO₂ phase was enormous, above 400 mAh g^-1 (Li_1+xTiO₂, x>0.2), and the volumetric capacity was as high as 877 mAh cm^-3 with full voltage utilization to 0 V versus Li/Li⁺, which resulted in higher energy density than that of state-of-the-art titania anodes. For the first time, it was clearly revealed that the capacity at 1.2 and 2.0 V corresponded to Li⁺ storage at amorphous and crystalline TiO₂, respectively. Furthermore, improvements in the rate capability and cycle performance were observed; this was attributed to resistance reduction induced by higher electrical/Li ⁺ conduction and faster Li⁺ diffusion.