In-situ preparation of titania/graphene nanocomposite via a facile sol–gel strategy: A promising anodic material for Li-ion batteries

Abstract In the current work, a simple and scalable route has been adapted to synthesize TiO2@Gr nanocomposites using in-situ sol–gel method. A systematic study of anatase TiO2 and TiO2@Gr nanocomposite based electrodes has been carried out to investigate their structural and morphological properties using XRD, Raman profile, FESEM and TEM. The results confirmed the insertion of TiO2 nanoparticles in graphene sheets. Further, the electrochemical performance of the as-prepared electrodes has been investigated using galvanostatic charge/discharge profile. Benefiting from the unique heterostructure, as-prepared TiO2@Gr composite showed high discharge capacity (~203 mAhg−1 at 0.2C) and stability with columbic efficiency ~97.3% as compare to anatase TiO2 (~125 mAhg−1 at 0.2C), which makes it a potential anodic materials for Li ion batteries (LIBs).