Sol-gel synthesis of ZnO/TiO2 core-shell nanocomposites and their structural and electrochemical characterization as anode for lithium ion battery

Abstract

This study focused on synthesis of ZnO/TiO2 core-shell nanocomposites on copper substrate by sol-gel method and their structural and electrochemical characterization as anodes for lithium ion batteries. SEM and XRD results exhibited the high density of the ZnO/TiO2 nanocomposite in core-shell morphology were synthesized on copper foil. Electrochemical studies showed more stable behavior, higher capacity, coulombic efficiencies and excellent reversibility and long-life cycling performance of ZnO/TiO2 core-shell nanocomposite compared to the ZnO and TiO2 films. EIS studies demonstrated the synergistic effect of ZnO/TiO2 core-shell structures leading to improvement in the diffusion of lithium-ions into anode due to creation of the high surface area, short lithium-ions diffusion path and high electron transportation rate. Coulombic efficiency of ZnO/TiO2 core-shell nanocomposites was achieved more than 98% which was higher than the obtained values of ZnO (94%) and TiO2 (93%) films.