Anatase bimetallic oxide TiVO4: toward superior lithium-ion storage performance

Titanium oxide (TiO₂) is a promising active electrode material for lithium-ion storage due to its abundant reserves, low cost, excellent stability and high safety. However, its moderate specific capacity and limited rate performance hinder further development and practical applications. In this study, anatase-phase vanadium titanium oxide (TiVO₄) was synthesized by incorporating highly active V⁴⁺ ions into the anatase TiO₂ crystal structure via a template-assisted self-sacrificial method. The unique bimetallic oxide TiVO₄ exhibits excellent lithium affinity and possesses a significantly narrower band gap than TiO₂, imparting it with conductivity. As anticipated, TiVO₄ demonstrates outstanding specific capacity and superior rate performance. At current densities of 0.05 and 5.00 A g⁻¹, TiVO₄ delivers specific capacities of 340 and 140 mAh g⁻¹, respectively—1.5 and 3.7 times higher than those of TiO₂. Notably, when the current density increases by a factor of 10 (from 0.05 to 5.00 A g⁻¹), TiVO₄ retains 41.2% of its capacity, whereas TiO₂ retains only 16.5%. These results highlight a promising strategy for the design and development of advanced metal oxide electrode materials.