TiN porous ceramics with excellent electrochemical properties prepared by freeze-drying and in-situ nitridation reaction

Porous ceramics have attracted extensive attention because of their high porosity, low thermal conductivity, large specific surface area and good corrosion resistance. In this work, TiN porous ceramics with high porosity are successfully prepared via the combination of freeze-drying and in-situ nitridation reaction method using Ti powder and chitosan as raw materials. The influence of the solid content of Ti powder, the concentration of chitosan/acetic acid solution and the nitridation temperature on the morphologies and physical properties of as prepared TiN porous ceramics are fully investigated. The sample with high porosity of 92.8% and low bulk density of 0.27 g/cm(3) can be obtained through optimal parameters (the solid content of Ti powder is 9.6 wt%, the concentration of chitosan/acetic acid solution is 5 wt%, and the nitridation temperature is 1473 K). Particular emphasize is that the as-prepared TiN porous ceramics can be used as sulfur host material for lithium sulfur batteries (LSBs). Good rate performance and cycle stability of TiN/S electrodes are achieved by electrochemical performance tests. The initial discharge capacity of TiN/S electrodes is 778 mAh g(-1) at 0.5C, and the capacity retention rate is 94% after 200 cycles.