Monodisperse mesoporous anatase beads as high performance and safer anodes for lithium ion batteries.

To achieve high efficiency lithium ion batteries (LIBs), an effective active material is important. In this regard, monodisperse mesoporous titania beads (MMTBs) featuring well interconnected nanoparticles were synthesised, and their mesoporous properties were tuned to study how these affect the electrochemical performance in LIBs. Two pore diameters of 15 and 25 nm, three bead diameters of 360, 800 and 2100 nm, and various annealing temperatures (from 300 to 650 °C) were investigated. The electrochemical results showed that while the pore size does not significantly influence the electrochemical behaviour, the specific surface area and the nanocrystal size affect the performance. Also, there is an optimum annealing temperature that enhances electron transfer across the titania bead structure. The carbon content employed in the electrode was varied, showing that the bead diameter strongly influences the minimal content of the conductive carbon required to fabricate the electrode. As a general rule, the smaller the bead diameter, the more carbon was required in the electrode. A large energy capacity and high current rate performance were achieved on the MMTBs featuring high surface area, nano-sized anatase crystals and well-sintered connections between the nanocrystals. The high stability of these mesoporous structures was demonstrated by charge/discharge cycling up to 500 cycles. Devices constructed with the MMTBs retained more than 80% of the initial capacity, indicating an excellent performance.