Mouad Dahbi

By Nabil El Halya, Karim Elouardi, Abdelwahed Chari, Abdeslam El Bouari, Jones Alami and Mouad Dahbi

Titanium dioxide- (TiO2-) based nanomaterials have been widely adopted as active materials for photocatalysis, sensors, solar cells, and for energy storage and conversion devices, especially rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), due to their excellent structural and cycling stability, high discharge voltage plateau (more than 1.7 V versus Li+/Li), high safety, environmental friendliness, and low cost. However, due to their relatively low theoretical capacity and electrical conductivity, their use in practical applications, i.e. anode materials for LIBs, is limited. Several strategies have been developed to improve the conductivity, the capacity, the cycling stability, and the rate capability of TiO2-based materials such as designing different nanostructures (1D, 2D, and 3D), Coating or combining TiO2 with carbonaceous materials, and selective doping with mono and heteroatoms. This chapter is devoted to the development of a simple and cost-efficient strategies for the preparation of TiO2 nanoparticles as anode material for lithium ion batteries (LIBs). These strategies consist of using the Sol–Gel method, with a sodium alginate biopolymer as a templating agent and studying the influence of calcination temperature and phosphorus doping on the structural, the morphological and the textural properties of TiO2 material. Moreover, the synthetized materials were tested electrochemically as anode material for lithium ion battery. TiO2 electrodes calcined at 300°C and 450°C have delivered a reversible capacity of 266 mAh g−1, 275 mAh g−1 with coulombic efficiencies of 70%, 75% during the first cycle under C/10 current rate, respectively. Besides, the phosphorus doped TiO2 electrodes were presented excellent lithium storage properties compared to the non-doped electrodes which can be attributed to the beneficial role of phosphorus doping to inhibit the growth of TiO2 nanoparticles during the synthesis process and provide a high electronic conductivity.

Part of the book: Titanium Dioxide

By Loubna Hdidou, Fouad Ghamouss, Bouchaib Manoun, Hassan Hannache, Jones Alami and Mouad Dahbi

To satisfy the growing demand for high-energy and high-power-densities Lithium-ion Batteries (LIBs), the design and development of efficient electrode materials are necessary. In comparison to graphite, transition metal oxides (TMOs) have recently been widely investigated as anode materials due to their promising properties. These combine high specific capacities and high working potential, making them attractive anode candidates for emergent applications. Unfortunately, because of their poor electronic conductivity and high-volume expansion during cycling, they are unpractical and difficult to employ. To overcome these limitations, different approaches have been adopted. Examples are synthesizing the metal oxides at the nanometric scale, designing three-dimensional or hollow structures, coating the material with carbonaceous materials, etc. In this chapter, we report the elaboration of nanostructured transition metal oxides (Co3O4, Mn3O4, Co3−xMnxO4) using alginate gelling synthesis method. The Co3O4 octahedral-like nanoparticles display a remarkable cycling performance and good rate capability of 1194 mAh g−1 at C/5 and 937 mAh g−1 at 2C. Partially substituting the Co with Mn was shown to result in the production of Co2.53Mn0.47O4 and MnCo2O4 with high initial specific discharge capacities of 1228/921 and 1290/954 mAh g−1, respectively. As a Co-free material, the Mn3O4 delivers a reversible capacity of 271 mAh g−1, after 100 cycles.

Part of the book: Lithium Batteries