Supersonic cold spraying of titania nanoparticles on reduced graphene oxide for lithium ion battery anodes

Titania (TiO2) nanoparticles were uniformly distributed on and are well attached to reduced graphene oxide (rGO) by supersonic cold spraying. The process facilitated rapid production of lithium ion battery (LIB) anodes. Integration of TiO2 with rGO not only enhanced the conductivity of the anode, but also prevented agglomeration of the titania nanoparticles, which facilitated uniform distribution of the nanoparticles and thus consistently reduced the electron diffusion length. Integration of rGO with TiO2 widened the characteristic voltage range of the resulting rGO-TiO2 composite (0.01-3 V) relative to that of pure TiO2, which enhanced the capacity during the lithiation process. Therefore, the LIB cell exhibited superior performance with long cycle durations even under high current rate. The optimal weight ratio of rGO to TiO2 was found to be 1: 1, which produced a retention capacity of 203 mA h g(-1) at N = 300 cycle under a current rate of 1 C = 336 mA g(-1). Rapid production of rGO/TiO2 nanocomposites via supersonic cold spraying may facilitate commercialization of high-quality LIB cells. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.