Dehydration of Alginic Acid Cryogel by TiCl4 vapor: Direct Access to Mesoporous TiO2 @C Nanocomposites and Their Performance in Lithium-Ion Batteries

TinO2n-1 Suboxide Phases in TiO2/C Nanocomposites Engineered by Non-hydrolytic Sol-Gel with Enhanced Electrocatalytic Properties

We report a non-hydrolytic sol-gel (NHSG) route to engineer original mesoporous Ti_nO_2n-1@TiO₂/C nanocomposites. The synthetic approach is straightforward, solvent-free, additive-free, and meets the challenge of atom economy, as it merely involves TiCl₄ and THF in stoichiometric amounts. We found that these nanocomposites present enhanced electrocatalytic properties towards the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in 0.1 M KOH. We believe that these preliminary results will open a window of opportunity for the design of metal suboxides/carbon nanocomposites through NHSG routes.