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Lithiation Thermodynamics and Kinetics of the TiO2 (B) Nanoparticles

Published version
Peer-reviewed

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Type

Article

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Authors

Hua, X 
Liu, Z 
Fischer, MG 
Borkiewicz, O 
Chupas, PJ 

Abstract

TiO2 (B) has attracted considerable attention in recent years because it exhibits the largest capacity among all studied titania polymorphs, with high rate performance for Li intercalation being achieved when this material is nanostructured. However, due to the complex nature of its lithiation mechanism and practical challenges in probing Li structure in nanostructured materials, a definitive understanding of the lithiation thermodynamics has yet to be established. A comprehensive mechanistic investigation of the TiO2 (B) nanoparticles is therefore presented using a combination of in situ / operando X-ray pair distribution function (PDF) and electrochemical techniques. The discharge begins with surface reactions in parallel with Li insertion into the sub-surface of the nanoparticles. The Li bulk insertion starts with a single-phase reaction into the A2 site, a position adjacent to the b-channel. A change of the Li diffusion pathway from that along this open channel to that along the c-direction is likely to occur at the composition of Li0.25TiO2 until Li0.5TiO2 is attained, leading to a two-step A2-site incorporation with one step kinetically distinct from the other. Subsequent Li insertion involves the C’ site, a position situated inside the channel, and follows a rapid two-phase reaction to form Li0.75TiO2. Due to the high diffusion barrier associated with the further lithiation, Li insertion into the A1 site, another position adjacent to the channel neighboring the A2 sites, is kinetically restricted. This study not only explores the lithiation reaction thermodynamics and mechanisms of nanoparticulate TiO2 (B), but also serves as a strong reference for future studies of the bulk phase, and for future calculations to study the Li transport properties of TiO2 (B).

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Keywords

40 Engineering, 4016 Materials Engineering, 34 Chemical Sciences, 3406 Physical Chemistry

Journal Title

Journal of the American Chemical Society

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0002-7863
1520-5126

Volume Title

139

Publisher

American Chemical Society
Sponsorship
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/H003819/1)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/J021199/1)
We acknowledge the funding from the Swiss NRP70 “Energy Turnaround” program and EPSRC via the “nanoionics” grant. Use of the Advanced Photon Source, an Office of Science User Facility operated for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Journal of the American Chemical Society Article Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory, was supported by the U.S. DOE under Contract No. DE-AC02- 06CH11357.