The electrochemical behaviour of TiO2 nanotubes with Co3O4 or NiO submicron particles: Composite anode materials for Li-ion micro batteries

The electrochemical performance of self-organized TiO2 nanotubes (TiO(2)nts) can be improved for lithium-ion microbatteries by depositing submicron Co3O4 and NiO particles. These transition metal oxides were directly grown onto the titania nanotubes by electrodeposition and thermal treatments. The morphology and the chemical composition of the resulting materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS), and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). The electrochemical nucleation and growth mechanisms of Co and Ni onto TiO(2)nts are also discussed. Besides the remarkable capacity retention of the nano-architectured titania electrodes in lithium test cells, we show that the addition of submicron Co3O4 or NiO particles leads to a spectacular increase of the capacity values during the first 25 cycles. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.