Crystallinity‐Controlled Titanium Oxide–Carbon Nanocomposites with Enhanced Lithium Storage Performance

Nanocomposites of crystalline‐controlled TiO 2 –carbon are prepared by a novel one‐step approach and applied in anodes of lithium ion batteries. In our nanocomposite anodes, the Li + capacity contribution from the TiO 2 phase was enormous, above 400 mAh g −1 (Li 1+ x TiO 2 , x >0.2), and the volumetric capacity was as high as 877 mAh cm −3 with full voltage utilization to 0 V versus Li/Li + , which resulted in higher energy density than that of state‐of‐the‐art titania anodes. For the first time, it was clearly revealed that the capacity at 1.2 and 2.0 V corresponded to Li + storage at amorphous and crystalline TiO 2 , respectively. Furthermore, improvements in the rate capability and cycle performance were observed; this was attributed to resistance reduction induced by higher electrical/Li + conduction and faster Li + diffusion.