LAUSR

In this work, a simple, facile, and effective hydrothermal method toward TiO2/graphene composite has been developed by using tetrabutyl titanate and different layers of graphene oxide (GO) as the starting materials, exploring the influence of the layers of graphene on the lithium-ion battery composites. The structure and morphology were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Their electrochemistry performances were tested through galvanostatic charge–discharge, cyclic voltammetry (CV), and AC impedance (EIS). When used as anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), the reduced graphene oxide (rGO) can effectively prevent the aggregation of TiO2 nanoparticles and increase the electrical conductivity of the composites. The electrochemical tests indicate that the TiO2/rGO (few-layer) electrode exhibits higher electrochemical performance than that of TiO2/rGO (multi-layers) electrode regardless of the rate. At the current density of 100 mA g−1, the discharge capacity of TiO2/rGO (few-layers) can maintain 344.3 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles, which is higher than that of TiO2/rGO (multi-layers) 244.9 mAh g−1. TiO2/rGO (few-layers) showed reversible capacity values of 303.9 mAh g−1 and 245.6 mAh g−1 at current rates of 160 mA g−1 and 320 mA g−1, respectively, showing better rate performance. Our study demonstrates significant potential of few-layer graphene as anode materials for LIBs.