Simple fabrication of TiO₂/C nanocomposite with enhanced electrochemical performance for lithium-ion batteries

TiO₂/C nanocomposites were fabricated by simple hydrolysis of tetrabutyl titanate to yield TiO₂ nanoparticles followed by carbonizing the mixture of glucose and TiO₂ at 600 °C. By merely varying the weight ratio of glucose:TiO₂, the electrochemical performance of the composites could be optimized significantly. At a ratio of 0.8, the composite exhibits a high reversible capacity of 283.7 mA h g⁻¹ after cycling 100 times at a current density of 100 mA g⁻¹, as well as the capacities of 245.1, 213.6, 179.9 and 136.6 mA h g⁻¹ at the corresponding densities of 200, 400, 800 and 1600 mA g⁻¹. After cycling 1000 times at 500 mA g⁻¹, a capacity of 122.8 mA h g⁻¹ was retained for the composite with a ratio of 0.8, and even a capacity of 149.1 mA h g⁻¹ for the composite with a ratio of 0.7. The enhanced performance is ascribed to the carbon-coated TiO₂ nanoparticles uniformly embedding in the carbon matrix with appropriate carbon content