(229g) Facile Fabrication of Hollow TiO2 Nanoparticles As Safe Anode Materials for Lithium Ion Batteries

Lithium ion batteries will play increasingly important role in expanding market of electric vehicles and green energy storage, in addition to continuously dominant role in personal electronic devices. The recall of lithium ion batteries for laptops and Chevy Volt battery fires demonstrate the critical importance of battery safety, especially for large-scale production/application in future. Safety concern requires next-generation lithium ion batteries to have carbon-alternative anode materials where its voltage plateau is higher than that of carbon to enhance safety without compromising cyclability. TiO₂ could be potentially used as such safer anode materials for lithium ion batteries, and its structural stability guarantees good cyclability in reversible lithium ion storage. In this presentation, our recent efforts on facile preparation of hollow TiO₂ nanoparticles will be reported. The hollow porous nanoparticles are formed by aggregation of smaller nanoparticles as basic building units. The hollow TiO₂ nanoparticles with high specific surface area and short diffusion path demonstrate excellent cycling performance and high current rate in reversible lithium ion storage at significantly higher voltage plateau than that of carbon.