Nanostructured zirconia-doped titania as the anode material for lithium-ion battery

Nanostructured TiO2 and TiO2-ZrO2 (4 wt % ZrO2) in the anatase crystal modification have been synthesized through a template sol-gel route. Morphological and structural features of these compounds have been studied by scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The synthesized materials are porous nanostructured microtubes 10-300 mu m in length and 3-5 mu m in diameter. The size of nanoparticles forming tubes is 15-25 nm. Doping with zirconia (a parts per thousand currency sign4 wt %) does not change the anatase crystal structure; at the same time, this is accompanied by an increase in the unit cell parameters and in the number of defects in the lattice. The availability of nanostructured TiO2-ZrO2 as an anode material for a Li-ion battery has been evaluated by the galvanostatic discharge-charge method. After 20 cycles in the range 3-1 V, the reversible capacity of TiO2-ZrO2 was 140 mA h/g, while the capacity of the undoped TiO2 was 65 mA h/g. The developed method for modification of titania is efficient from the standpoint of producing a promising anode material for Li-ion battery.