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 μm in length and 3–5 μm in diameter. The size of nanoparticles forming tubes is 15–25 nm. Doping with zirconia (≤4 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.