The effect of polyaniline on TiO2 nanoparticles as anode materials for lithium ion batteries

Polyaniline (PANI) additives have been shown to have a significant effect on titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles as lithium ion battery anode materials. TiO2/PANI composites were prepared using a solid coating method with different ratios of PANI and then characterized using XRD and SEM. These composites have shown increased reversible capacity compared with pure TiO2. At the current rate of 20 and 200 mAg(-1), maximum capacities were also found on 15 % PANI incorporated TiO2 composite with 281 mAh g(-1) and 168.2 mAh g(-1), respectively, and 230 and 99.6 mAh g(-1) were obtained in the case of pure TiO2. Among all the composite materials, 10 % PANI incorporated TiO2 composite exhibited the highest reversible capacity with cycle stability after 100 cycles at the current rate of 200 mAg(-1), suggestive that the optimal ratio is 10 % PANI of TiO2/polyaniline. The cycle stability showed swift fade when the ratio of PANI in the composites exceeded 10 % though the highest initial capacity was achieved on 15 % PANI in the composites. These results suggest that PANI has effectively enhanced the reversible capacity of commercial TiO2, and may be a promising polymer matrix materials for lithium ion batteries.