Off-stoichiometric TiO2--decorated graphite anode for high-power lithium-ion batteries

To meet the growing demand for high-power lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), the development of advanced materials is crucial because they play a central role in energy storage technologies. Although graphite is widely used as the most popular anode material, the rate capability and thermal stability of graphite should be further improved for extending the applications of LIBs into emerging markets like electric vehicles and personal mobility devices. With this in mind, we propose off-stoichiometric TiO2-x-decorated graphite as a potential anode material for practical use in high-power LIBs. Thanks to the high electrical conductivity and thermal resistance of off-stoichiometric TiO2-x induced by an in situ carbothermal reduction process, the rate capability and thermal stability of graphite can be notably enhanced. The TiO2-x-decorated graphite offers a high capacity retention of 76.9% even after 100 cycles at a current density of 1C. We believe that this work can provide more opportunities to explore highly reliable anode materials offering high-energy and high-power characteristics for advanced LIBs.