Highly effective Al-doped titanium niobate porous anode material for rechargeable high-rate Li-ion storage performance

Background: Titanium and Niobium-based oxides are served as safety and more stable intercalation type potential anode materials for Li-ion batteries. Methods: In this work, we synthesize pristine titanium niobate (TiNb₂O₇, as denoted TNO) and novel aluminium doped TNO (Al-TNO) mesoporous materials via a facile solvothermal method for lithium-ion rechargeable batteries anode. The effect of Al-doping into the TNO crystal structure, physico-chemical properties and electrochemical performance are systematically analyzed. Significant findings: The optimized Ti_0.95Al_0.05Nb₂O₇ sample exhibits higher Li-ion storage performance. The observed initial specific capacity is 283 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.1 C and sustains 155 mAh g⁻¹ after 250 cycles at a current rate of 5 C. Whereas, the pristine TiNb₂O₇ exhibits initial discharge capacity of 278 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.1 C and maintains 118 mAh g⁻¹ after 250 cycles at 5 C. The resultant Al-TNO leads to enhance the conductivity and facilitate the fast Li-ion kinetics behaviours. Therefore, Al-doped TNO electrode cell revealed a higher electrochemical performance than that of pristine TNO electrode. Hence, this work provides an effective manner to improve the high-performance anode materials for Li-ion high-energy storage applications.