Full Length ArticleThe effect of morphology on the optical and electrical properties of sodium titanate nanostructures
Graphical abstract
Introduction
Lithium-ion batteries (LIB) are commonly used on several technologies and their use is constantly increasing [1], [2]. In search of cost-effective systems that increase electronic mobility and power, sodium-ion batteries (SIB) are proposed as a possible substitute for LIB [3], [4], [5]. While the technologies for both types of batteries are similar, the materials used for each one requires significantly different properties. In particular, the biggest challenge lies in the manufacture of the anode [6], [7], [8]. Titanates are a promising alternative for the preparation of anodes for SIB [9]. In particular, we study nanostructured sodium titanates for this purpose. However, the specific atomic arrangement that conforms the nanostructures continues under study [10]. There is a wide variety of works in bibliography, referring to the actual formation mechanism and structural properties of titanates with high aspect ratio [11], [12]. Nevertheless, no concluding information is reported, being essential to provide further evidence for the understanding of the physical properties of the obtained nanostructures and correlate them with the structure and the morphology of the samples. This is crucial for the understanding of the behavior of sodium-based nanostructures for energy storage applications [10].
A controlled synthesis, evaluating different conditions, accompanied with a very complete set of tools for a detailed experimental approach, allows a deep structurally characterization of the samples considered in this work. This is done by means of X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRD), Grazing Incidence Small Angle X-ray Scattering (GI-SAXS), Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS), High-resolution TEM (HRTEM) and Raman Spectroscopy. With this approach it is possible to shed light on the crystalline structure of these kind of materials and thus further correlate it with the electrical and optical properties. This work presents a thorough experimental characterization employing a complete set of experimental tools, showing how the synthesis conditions allow tuning the electric and optical response of nanostructured Na-titanates for energy storage and photoelectrode applications.
Section snippets
Synthesis of NaTNT
Sodium titanate nanostructures (NaTNT) were prepared by hydrothermal means under endogenous pressure, using approximately 1.18 g of commercial anatase nanopowder provided by Sigma–Aldrich (ID: 799289, External ID: 232033ALDRICH). The powder was dispersed in 75 mL of NaOH with 10 concentration in a Teflon-lined autoclave with a fill factor of 3/4 under simultaneous magnetic stirring.
To evaluate the effect of synthesis conditions on the obtained nanostructures the temperature reactor
Structural characterization
X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns obtained for all samples are shown in Fig. 1a. In general, all the samples (NaTNT) present a very similar pattern, showing the presence of diffraction peaks at approximately , and a series of doublet at , and . These features are similar as those observed for other titanate nanotubes that were synthesized by hydrothermal methods reported in literature [18], [19], [11], [20]. The first peak at may be ascribed
Conclusions
We present the dependence on the synthesis conditions of the structural, morphological, electrical and optical features, for sodium titanate nanostructures. We found that depending on the time and temperature of the hydrothermal synthesis, nanotubes, nanorods and nanoparticles were obtained. We inferred that solid structures are obtained for soft synthesis conditions (low temperature, long times). On the contrary, mixed morphologies appear when we apply higher temperature for a long time. The
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Lucia Amy: Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Investigation, Visualization, Writing - original draft, Conceptualization. Sofia Favre: Formal analysis, Data curation, Methodology, Visualization, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing, Conceptualization. Daniel L. Gau: Investigation, Writing - review & editing. Ricardo Faccio: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Methodology, Investigation, Data curation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing, Validation.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgment
The authors wish to thank the Uruguayan and PEDECIBA funding institutions. We would also like to thank Martin Esteves and Mariano Romero. This research used resources of the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory (LNLS), an open national facility operated by the Brazilian Centre for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) for the Brazilian Ministry for Science, Technology, Innovations and Communications (MCTIC). Dr. Santiago J.A. Figueroa is acknowledged for the assistance during the
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