Rutile TiO2 Mesocrystals/Reduced Graphene Oxide with High-Rate and Long-Term Performance for Lithium-Ion Batteries

An in situ hydrothermal route is developed for fabricating rutile TiO2 mesocrystals/reduced graphene oxide nanosheets (TGR) hybrids in the presence of dodecylbenzenesulphonic acid (ADBS). These rutile TiO2 mesocrystals with a Wulff shape are composed of ultra-tiny rod-like subunits with the same oriented direction and closely wrapped by the nanosheets of reduced graphene oxide (RGO). It is found that ADBS played a key role for the formation of mesocrystals during the self-assembly process, which pillared the graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets and involved the aggregation of the mesocrystal subunits. Furthermore, the TGR hybrids are used as an anode material and exhibited a large capacity over 150 mAh g(-1) at 20 C after 1000 cycles, and high rate capability up to 40 C. These high performance characteristics may be due to the intrinsic characteristics of rutile TiO2 mesocrystals constructed from ultra-tiny subunits and hybridized with super conductive RGO nanosheets.