Binder-free carbon-coated TiO2@graphene electrode by using copper foam as current collector as a high-performance anode for lithium ion batteries

Anatase TiO2 is widely used in lithium ion batteries (LIBs) due to its excellent safety and excellent structural stability. However, due to the poor ion and electron transport and low specific capacity (335 mAh g(-1)) of TiO2, its application in LIBs is severely limited. For the first time, we report a binder-free, carbon-coated TiO2@ graphene hybrid by using copper foam as current collector (TG-CM) to enhance the ionic and electronic conductivity and increase the discharge specific capacity of the electrode material without adding conductive carbon (such as super P, etc.) and a binder (such as polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), etc.). When serving as an anode material for LIBs, TG-CM displays excellent electrochemical performance in the voltage range of 0.01-3.0 V. Moreover, the TG-CM hybrid delivers a high reversible discharge capacity of 687.8 mAh g(-1) at 0.15 A g(-1). The excellent electrochemical performance of the TG-CM hybrid is attributed to the increased lithium ion diffusion rate due to the introduction of graphene and amorphous carbon layer, and the increased contact area between the active material and electrolyte, and small resistance with copper foam as the current collector without an additional binder (PVDF) and conductivity carbon (super P).