Stabilizing nanostructured lithium insertion materials via organic hybridization: A step forward towards high-power batteries

Herein, we present the electrochemical characterization of carbon-coated TiO2 nanorods, obtained by carbonizing RAFT (reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer) polymerization derived block copolymers anchored on anatase TiO2 nanorods. These carbon-coated TiO2 nanorods show an improved electrochemical performance in terms of first cycle reversibility, specific capacity, cycling stability, and high rate capability. More importantly, however, the structural disordering observed in the uncoated TiO2 nanorods by means of galvanostatic and potentiodynamic cycling as well as ex situ XRD analysis, does not occur for the carbon-coated material. Preventing this structural disordering does not only result in a stabilized cycling performance but, moreover, in substantially enhanced energy storage efficiency (86% vs. only 68% at the 100th cycle) due to the preserved characteristic potential profile of anatase TiO2. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.