Metallothermic Reduction at Low Temperature Synthesis of Ti4O7 Powder with Lithium Ion Insertion/Extraction Property

In this work, a thermal reduction process via ultrafine titanium powder as the reducing agent under argon atmosphere is firstly used to prepare Ti4O7. Compared with the conventional method, this experiment process reduces the sintering temperature to 850°C. The phase transformation and the morphology of the as-prepared powders are examined by X-Ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Besides, it is found that the Ti4O7 powders obtained by titanium thermal reduction method exhibited the crystal structure, distinctly possessing an average particle size around 750 nm. The as-prepared Ti4O7 nanoparticles are used as anode active material in lithium battery. The results demonstrate that the anode with Ti4O7 calcined at 850°C by titanium thermal reduction method exhibited insertion/extraction lithium ion property.