Ammonia cation-assisted bubble template for synthesizing hollow TiO2 nanospheres and their application in lithium ion storage

Hollow TiO2 nanospheres are promising anode materials for lithium ion batteries. The synthesis of such nanostructures was achieved by an ammonia cation-assisted oxygen bubble template strategy in the present work. The formation of other transition metal-based hollow spheres also validates the proposed ammonia cation-assisted oxygen bubble template method. The formation mechanism was proposed on the basis of an investigation of the time dependency as well as the effect of H2O2 and NH4Cl on the morphology. The discharge capacity of the prepared hollow TiO2 nanospheres is 131 mA h g(-1) after 30 cycles.