Solvothermal synthesis of hedgehog-like mesoporous rutile TiO2 with improved lithium storage properties

Hedgehog-like mesoporous rutile TiO 2 (HLR-TiO 2 ) composed of well-defined nanoneedles is fabricated in a solvothermal system containing tetrabutyl titanate , hydrochloric acid aqueous solution and diethylene glycol with a proper volume ratio. A possible formation mechanism of the HLR-TiO 2 is proposed on the basis of different experimental results and three different morphologies are obtained by changing the solvent with other conditions unchanged. Given its unique hierarchical mesoporous nanostructures , the HLR-TiO 2 shows superior lithium storage properties with excellent discharge specific capacity of 243.3 mA h g −1 obtained after 100 cycles at a current rate of 1 C among the three samples, which is almost unparalleled to other rutile TiO 2 -based electrodes. In particular, a specific capacity of 80.2 mA h g −1 is still maintained after 2000 cycles even at a high current rate of 20 C, indicating that great potential of HLR-TiO 2 as an electrode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs).