Facile synthesis of porous Mn2O3/TiO2 microspheres as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries with enhanced electrochemical performance

• Published in: Journal of materials science. Materials in electronics 2018-09, Vol.29 (18), p.16064-16073
• Main Authors: Gou, Qian-Zhi, Li, Chao, Zhang, Xue-Qi, Zhang, Bo, Zou, Shun-Rui, Hu, Ning, Sun, Ding-Wu, Lei, Cai-Xia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anodes; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemical synthesis; Chemistry and Materials Science; Composite materials; Current density; Electrochemical analysis; Electrode materials; Electron microscopes; Liquid phase deposition; Lithium; Lithium-ion batteries; Manganese oxides; Materials Science; Microspheres; Optical and Electronic Materials; Performance enhancement; Rechargeable batteries; Synergistic effect; Titanium dioxide; X ray photoelectron spectroscopy; X-ray diffraction
• ISSN: 0957-4522; 1573-482X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10854-018-9695-7

In this study, the porous Mn 2 O 3 /TiO 2 microspheres were prepared via a facile two-step hydrothermal method. Firstly, the Mn 2 O 3 particles were obtained by the calcination of hydrothermal-synthesized MnCO 3 . Then the TiO 2 layer was coated on the surface of the Mn 2 O 3 particles by a hydrothermal-assisted liquid phase deposition (HA-LPD) method. The as-prepared samples were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analyzer (BET), respectively. Moreover, the electrochemical performances of Mn 2 O 3 /TiO 2 as an anode material in lithium ion batteries (LIBs) were also evaluated. The results indicated that, the specific capability of the Mn 2 O 3 /TiO 2 composite material was about 452 mAh g −1 at the current density of 500 mA g −1 after 200 cycles, which was much higher than that of pristine Mn 2 O 3 (313 mAh g −1 ). Meanwhile, the rate capacity of Mn 2 O 3 /TiO 2 was 177 mAh g −1 at the current density of 4 A g −1 , which was also higher than that of pure Mn 2 O 3 (3 mAh g −1 ). Moreover, the Mn 2 O 3 /TiO 2 composite material can still yield a specific capacity of 800 mAh g − 1 at the current density of 1 A g −1 after 1000 cycles. The enhanced electrochemical performances of Mn 2 O 3 /TiO 2 composite material was mainly attributed to the synergistic effect between the Mn 2 O 3 with high capacity and TiO 2 with superior stability.