Preparation and electrochemical properties of TiO2 hollow spheres as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries

TiO2 hollow spheres are fabricated by a sol-gel process using Carbon spheres as template. The diameter and the shell thickness of the TiO2 hollow spheres are about 400-600 nm and 60-80 nm, respectively. The electrochemical properties of the hollow spheres are investigated by galvanostatic cycling and cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements. The initial discharge capacity reaches 291.2 mAh g(-1) at a current density of 60 mA g(-1). The average discharge capacity loss is about 1.72 mAh g(-1) per cycle from the 2nd to the 40th cycles and the coulombic efficiency is approximately 98% after 40 cycles, indicating excellent cycling stability and reversibility. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.