Synthesis and characterization of mesoporous titanium pyrophosphate as lithium intercalation electrode materials

Mesoporous titanium pyrophosphates have been synthesized by a sol-gel template method with further calcinations at or below the temperature of 700 degrees C. When calcined at 800 degrees C, crystalline TiP2O7 will be formed accompanied with the break down of meso-structure in the precursor. Mesoporous TiP2O7 shows a similar lithium ion intercalation behavior to that of solid solution in the electrochemical tests. When cycled at high charge/discharge rate, mesoporous TiP2O7 calcined at 700 degrees C delivers a higher specific discharge capacity than that of crystalline TiP2O7, indicating that mesoporous structure is beneficial for improving the transportation and intercalation/deintercalation behavior of lithium ions in the materials, thus improving the charge/discharge performance of the materials at high charge/discharge rate. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.