Facile synthesis of porous Mn 2 O 3 /TiO 2 microspheres as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries with enhanced electrochemical performance

In this study, the porous Mn2O3/TiO2 microspheres were prepared via a facile two-step hydrothermal method. Firstly, the Mn2O3 particles were obtained by the calcination of hydrothermal-synthesized MnCO3. Then the TiO2 layer was coated on the surface of the Mn2O3 particles by a hydrothermal-assisted liquid phase deposition (HA-LPD) method. The as-prepared samples were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analyzer (BET), respectively. Moreover, the electrochemical performances of Mn2O3/TiO2 as an anode material in lithium ion batteries (LIBs) were also evaluated. The results indicated that, the specific capability of the Mn2O3/TiO2 composite material was about 452 mAh g−1 at the current density of 500 mA g−1 after 200 cycles, which was much higher than that of pristine Mn2O3 (313 mAh g−1). Meanwhile, the rate capacity of Mn2O3/TiO2 was 177 mAh g−1 at the current density of 4 A g−1, which was also higher than that of pure Mn2O3 (3 mAh g−1). Moreover, the Mn2O3/TiO2 composite material can still yield a specific capacity of 800 mAh g− 1 at the current density of 1 A g−1 after 1000 cycles. The enhanced electrochemical performances of Mn2O3/TiO2 composite material was mainly attributed to the synergistic effect between the Mn2O3 with high capacity and TiO2 with superior stability.