Facile synthesis of rutile TiO2 mesocrystals with enhanced sodium storage properties

With the aim of developing high performance anode (negative) materials for sodium ion batteries (NIBs), rutile TiO2 with mesocrystalline structure were designed and used for enhancing the discharge capacity and reaction kinetics. The nanoporous rutile TiO2 mesocrystals constructed by crystallographically oriented nanoparticle subunits with tunable microstructures were successfully prepared via a facile synthesis route. Such rutile TiO2 architecture possesses a large surface area (157 m(2) g(-1)), nanoporous nature and single-crystal-like structure, which could provide a high level of accessibility for the electrolyte and more active sites, and allow the fast electron and ion transport compared with the irregularly oriented nanoparticles. When evaluated as an anode material for sodium-ion storage, this unique architecture exhibited a high reversible capacity over 350 mA h g(-1) at 50 mA g(-1), superior rate capability with a stable capacity of 151 mA h g(-1) at 2 A g(-1) and good cycling stability.