Anatase bimetallic oxide TiVO4: toward superior lithium-ion storage performance

Titanium oxide (TiO2) is a promising active electrode material for lithium-ion storage due to its abundant reserves, low cost, excellent stability and high safety. However, its moderate specific capacity and limited rate performance hinder further development and practical applications. In this study, anatase-phase vanadium titanium oxide (TiVO4) was synthesized by incorporating highly active V4+ ions into the anatase TiO2 crystal structure via a template-assisted self-sacrificial method. The unique bimetallic oxide TiVO4 exhibits excellent lithium affinity and possesses a significantly narrower band gap than TiO2, imparting it with conductivity. As anticipated, TiVO4 demonstrates outstanding specific capacity and superior rate performance. At current densities of 0.05 and 5.00 A g-1, TiVO4 delivers specific capacities of 340 and 140 mAh g-1, respectively-1.5 and 3.7 times higher than those of TiO2. Notably, when the current density increases by a factor of 10 (from 0.05 to 5.00 A g-1), TiVO4 retains 41.2% of its capacity, whereas TiO2 retains only 16.5%. These results highlight a promising strategy for the design and development of advanced metal oxide electrode materials.