A coordinated regulation strategy to improve electronic conductivity and Li-ion transport for TiO2 lithium battery anode materials

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is considered as one of the most promising anode materials for lithium-ion batteries. However, improving the poor electronic conductivity and slow Li-ion diffusion of TiO2 anode materials are urgently required. In this study, we design a Cu-doped TiO2 hollow nanosphere structure based on the coordinated regulation strategy of size, nanostructure and doping. The results revealed the cause of the oxygen vacancy generation and its mechanism of action in the battery electrode reaction process. Moreover, the electrochemical results showed that Cu-doped hollow nanosphere structure significantly improves the low conductivity and the slow Li-ion diffusion rate of TiO2. These findings show that our work provides a new modification idea to improve the electrochemical performance of TiO2 anode materials for LIBs.