Fabrication and Characterization of Nano-Crystalline TiO2Thin Film Electrodes for Lithium Ion Batteries

Nano-crystalline TiO 2 thin films have been fabricated by direct-current sputter deposition. The crystalline TiO 2 films are deposited without thermal annealing. The crystal structures, morphologies and electrochemical performances of the fabricated TiO 2 electrodes toward lithium have been systematically investigated. By controlling the total deposition pressures and O 2 partial pressures, anatase-phase TiO 2 electrodes with granular grains and spindle-like grains can be fabricated. The TiO 2 electrode exhibits with granular morphology shows short discharge plateau and lower capacity. The spindle-like TiO 2 electrode shows a flat plateau at ∼1.7 V, and exhibits a reversible capacity of around 330 mAhg −1 as cycled between 3.0 to 0.0 V v.s. Li/Li + at 0.2 C. The results have demonstrated that the nano-structured spindle-like TiO 2 can be used as high capacity electrodes for lithium ion thin film batteries.