Niobium doped anatase TiO2 as an effective anode material for sodium-ion batteries

• Published in: Journal of materials chemistry. A, Materials for energy and sustainability Vol. 3; no. 45; pp. 22969 - 22974
• Main Authors: Zhao, Fei, Wang, Baofeng, Tang, Yufeng, Ge, Honghua, Huang, Zhenguo, Liu, Hua Kun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.01.2015
• Subjects: Alternative energy sources; Anatase; Anodes; cost effectiveness; Electric potential; electric potential difference; lithium batteries; Manufacturing engineering; nanoparticles; Niobium; Rechargeable batteries; specific energy; Titanium dioxide
• ISSN: 2050-7488; 2050-7496; 2050-7496
• DOI: 10.1039/c5ta04876a

Sodium-ion batteries are considered to be a promising low-cost alternative to common lithium-ion batteries in the areas where specific energy is less critical. Among all the anode materials studied so far, TiO 2 is very promising due to its low operating voltage, high capacity, nontoxicity, and low production cost. Herein, we present Nb-doped anatase TiO 2 nanoparticles with high capacity, excellent cycling performance, and excellent rate capability. The optimized Nb-doped TiO 2 anode delivers high reversible capacities of 177 mA h g −1 at 0.1C and 108.8 mA h g −1 at 5C, in contrast to 150.4 mA h g −1 at 0.1C and only 54.6 mA h g −1 at 5C for the pristine TiO 2 . The good performance is likely to be associated with enhanced conductivity and lattice expansion due to Nb doping. These results, in combination with its environmental friendliness and cost efficiency, render Nb-doped TiO 2 a promising anode material for high-power sodium-ion batteries. Nb-doped anatase TiO 2 anode materials with high reversible sodium storage capacities, excellent cycling stability and rate capability were synthesized by a sol-gel method.