Preparation and Electrochemical Lithium Insertion of TiO2 Nanotube Arrays

This paper reports on the preparation of TiO2 nanotube arrays and their electrochemical lithium insertion properties. Anodization method is used to prepare self-organized TiO2 nanotube arrays. The crystal structure, morphologies, and electrochemical properties of the as-prepared TiO2 nanotube arrays are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), sunning electron microscopy (SEM), galvanostatic change/discharge, cyclic voltammetric (CV), and electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS). The results show that the TiO2 nanotube arrays exhibit good cycle performance, delivering an initial discharge capacity of 73.3 mu Ah.cm(-2) and 65.5 mu Ah.cm(-2) after 100 cycles (with the retention of 89.4%). The diffusion coefficient and apparent activation energies of lithium insertion in the TiO2 nanotube arrays are calculated to be 7.7x10(-9) cm(2).s(-1) and 58.4 kJ.mol(-1), respectively.