Electrochemical behaviour of magnesium hydride-added titania anode for Li-ion battery

This work explores the electrochemical performance of a 10 wt.% MgH2 added titania anode for Li-ion half-cell batteries. We used a distribution function of relaxation times (DFRT) analysis to quantify the sources of polarisation losses from the impedance data. We observed a notable increase in both ohmic and polarisation resistance terms for the TiO2 + 10 wt.% MgH2 compared to the standard titania anode. Nonetheless, the modified electrode showed a significantly higher lithium diffusion coefficient than pure TiO2, with capacity retention reaching 300 mA h g(-1) at 0.1C. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) cou-pled with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) reveals a higher surface coverage by secondary surface(s) upon lithium insertion for MgH2 added titania. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and atomic force mi-croscopy (AFM) studies provide indirect evidence that different nanodomains with different conducting properties evolve at the anode side upon making various charging/discharging cycles. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.