Recent Advances in Titanium Niobium Oxide Anodes for High-Power Lithium-Ion Batteries

High-power energy storage devices are required for many emerging technologies. The rate capability of existing energy storage devices is inadequate to fulfill the requirements of fast charging and discharging while maintaining suitable long-term stability and energy density. This is readily apparent when evaluating the current anode of choice, graphite, which does not have an acceptable high-rate capability using traditional electrolytes. Recent work has shown that titanium niobium oxides (TNO) are promising alternative anode materials with high charge/discharge rates, excellent stability, and reasonable capacity. This article reviews the latest advancements in the development of TNO-based anode materials and architectures for fast energy storage devices, including new insights into understanding their crystal structure and lithiation mechanisms, effective strategies to improve the electrochemical properties of the materials (e.g., defect engineering, composite design, and overlithiation), and rational design of electrode and cell architectures to facilitate fast charge and mass transfer. Critical challenges and new directions in achieving high rate capabilities will also be discussed.