New paper published in Journal of the American Ceramic Society on oxide/carbon hybrid electrodes for Lithium-ion batteries

New paper published in the Journal of the American Ceramic Society on the synthesis of new hybrid electrode materials for Li-ion batteries (LIBs). Through controlled oxidation of layered Ti₂SnC, we were able to obtain TiO₂-SnO₂-C/carbide hybrid materials using two different methods: partial oxidation in an open-air furnace (OAF) and rapid thermal annealing (RTA). The resulting carbide phase included both residual Ti₂SnC and TiC as a reaction product. In testing, we found that the sample oxidized in the OAF at 700°C for 1 hour had the highest initial lithiation capacity of 838 mAh/g at 100 mA/g. However, its delithiation capacity decreased to 427 mAh/g over cycling. In contrast, the RTA sample treated at 800°C for 30 seconds demonstrated the most efficient performance, with a reversible capacity of approximately 270 mAh/g after 150 cycles and a specific capacity of about 150 mAh/g under high cycling rate (2000 mA/g). Our findings suggest that this processing method could have wide-ranging applications in energy storage, particularly for other members of the MAX family. This work was the latest product of collaboration with the team of Michael Naguib (Tulane University, USA).