Synthesis and Characterization of Titanium Nitride-Carbon Composites and Their Use in Lithium-Ion Batteries

This work focuses on the synthesis of titanium nitride-carbon (TiN-carbon) composites by the thermal decomposition of a titanyl phthalocyanine (TiN(TD)) precursor into TiN. The synthesis of TiN was also performed using the sol-gel method (TiN(SG)) of an alkoxide/urea. The structure and morphology of the TiN-carbon and its precursors were characterized by XRD, FTIR, SEM, TEM, EDS, and XPS. The FTIR results confirmed the presence of the titanium phthalocyanine (TiOPC) complex, while the XRD data corroborated the decomposition of TiOPC into TiN. The resultant TiN exhibited a cubic structure with the FM3-M lattice, aligning with the crystal system of the synthesized TiN via the alkoxide route. The XPS results indicated that the particles synthesized from the thermal decomposition of TiOPC resulted in the formation of TiN-carbon composites. The TiN particles were present as clusters of small spherical particles within the carbon matrix, displaying a porous sponge-like morphology. The proposed thermal decomposition method resulted in the formation of metal nitride composites with high carbon content, which were used as anodes for Li-ion half cells. The TiN-carbon composite anode showed a good specific capacity after 100 cycles at a current density of 100 mAg-1.

One-step synthesis of Ni-doped SnO2 nanospheres with enhanced lithium ion storage performance

Ni-doped SnO₂ nanospheres were prepared and exhibited excellent cycle performance and capacity retention.

SnO2 nanotube arrays embedded in a carbon layer for high-performance lithium-ion battery applications

SnO₂ nanotube arrays embedded in a carbon layer were fabricated via a simple sol–gel method, which has shown good battery performance.

A novel hollowed CoO-in-CoSnO₃ nanostructure with enhanced lithium storage capabilities

The search for well-defined porous/hollowed metal oxide nanocomposites for high performance energy storage is promising. Herein, atomic layer deposition (ALD) has been utilized for the construction of a novel hollowed wire-in-tube nanostructure of CoO-in-CoSnO3, for which Co2(OH)2CO3 nanowires are first obtained by a hydrothermal method and then deposited with ALD SnO2. After a proper thermal treatment, a CoO wire-void-CoSnO3 tube was formed with the decomposition of Co2(OH)2CO3 and its simultaneous reaction with the outer SnO2 layer. In this unique wire-in-tube structure, both CoO and CoSnO3 are promising materials for lithium ion battery anodes with high theoretical capacities, and the porous + hollow feature is essential for better electrode/electrolyte contact, shorter ion diffusion path and better structure stability. After a further facile carbon coating, the hollowed wire-in-tube structure delivered an improved capacity of 1162.1 mA h g(-1), which is much higher than that of the bare CoO nanowire. Enhanced rate capability and cycling stability have also been demonstrated with the structure, showing its promising application for the anode material of lithium ion battery. The work also demonstrated an effective way of using ALD SnO2 for electrochemical energy storage that ALD SnO2 plays a key role in the structure formation and also serves as both active material and surface coating.

Highly stable and reversible lithium storage in SnO2 nanowires surface coated with a uniform hollow shell by atomic layer deposition

SnO2 nanowires directly grown on flexible substrates can be a good electrode for a lithium ion battery. However, Sn-based (metal Sn or SnO2) anode materials always suffer from poor stability due to a large volume expansion during cycling. In this work, we utilize atomic layer deposition (ALD) to surface engineer SnO2 nanowires, resulting in a new type of hollowed SnO2-in-TiO2 wire-in-tube nanostructure. This structure has radically improved rate capability and cycling stability compared to both bare SnO2 nanowires and solid SnO2@TiO2 core-shell nanowire electrodes. Typically a relatively stable capacity of 393.3 mAh/g has been achieved after 1000 charge-discharge cycles at a current density of 400 mA/g, and 241.2 mAh/g at 3200 mA/g. It is believed that the uniform hollow TiO2 shell provides stable surface protection and the appropriate-sized gap effectively accommodates the expansion of the interior SnO2 nanowire. This ALD-enabled method should be general to many other battery anode and cathode materials, providing a new and highly reproducible and controllable technique for improving battery performance.