The role of carbon component on the electrochemical performances of Ti_0.95Nb_0.95O₄/C composites as anode of lithium-ion batteries

In this work, rutile-phase Ti_0.95Nb_0.95O₄/C (TNO/C) composites with different carbon contents were obtained through solvothermal method and subsequent calcination. The effect of carbon component on the microstructure and electrochemical performances of TNO/C composites were investigated. The results indicate more oxygen vacancies, and higher contents of Nb⁴⁺ and Ti³⁺ can be obtained under higher carbon content, leading to enhanced conductivity. Besides serving as conductive agent, carbon component in TNO/C composites also acts as an active component for Li⁺ storage, and pseudocapacitance provided by carbon component increases with the increasing of its relative content. Therefore, TNO/C-27.0 composites with the highest carbon content in the as-prepared composites deliver the highest reversible capacities at different current densities and excellent cycling capability of 488 mAh·g⁻¹ at 0.3 A·g⁻¹ after 300 cycles and 331 mAh·g⁻¹ at 1.0 A·g⁻¹ after 500 cycles.