Preparation and electrochemical properties of TiO 2 hollow spheres as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries

TiO ₂ hollow spheres are fabricated by a sol-gel process using carbon spheres as template. The diameter and the shell thickness of the TiO ₂ hollow spheres are about 400-600 nm and 60-80 nm, respectively. The electrochemical properties of the hollow spheres are investigated by galvanostatic cycling and cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements. The initial discharge capacity reaches 291.2 mAh g ^-1 at a current density of 60 mA g ^-1. The average discharge capacity loss is about 1.72 mAh g ^-1 per cycle from the 2nd to the 40th cycles and the coulombic efficiency is approximately 98% after 40 cycles, indicating excellent cycling stability and reversibility.