HIERARCHICALLY NANOSTRUCTURE ELECTRODE MATERIALS FOR LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES - Electrochemical Nanofabrication: Principles and Applications - page 254

can be synthesized by a two-step method: first, calcine the Ti-Cd
precursors in the air to offer TiO composite, followed by a

washing step to give the final product. With a BET specific surface
area ca. 131 m

-CdSO

2 4

and a porosity ca. 48%, this material exhibits a
favorable performance at low current rates, whereas at high current
rates above 10 C, the performance becomes worse due to the poor
electronic characteristics of the material.

2

g

- 1

Figure 6.5 spheres. Inset shows the

high-magnification SEM image of surface structures of a single TiO
2

(a) SEM images of mesoporous TiO
2

sphere.

(b) HRTEM image of a part of a mesoporous TiO
2

sphere. Inset exhibits the
corresponding SAED pattern of the sphere (all reproduced with permission
from [65], copyright 2006, The Royal Society of Chemistry).

6.5.2 Flower-Like Nano/Micro Hierarchical Structures for
Electrode Materials

Nature can always inspire people in the design of new materials,
and that is why people turn to structures in nature when developing
hierarchical nano/microstructures for lithium-ion batteries.
For example, hierarchical flower-like SnO
2

nano/microstructure
material has been synthesized via facile solvent-induced and
surfactant-assisted self-assembly method followed by a suitable
thermal treatment [66]. As can be seen in Fig 6.6, this flower-
like structure consists of 3D interconnected SnO

nanoparticles

2