In this study, 20Li₂O-60V₂O₅-(20 − x)B₂O₃-xBi₂O₃ (x = 5, 7.5, 10 mol%) glass materials have been prepared by the melt-quenching method, and the structure and morphology of the glass materials have been characterized by XRD, FTIR, Raman, and FE-SEM. The results show that the disordered network of the glass is mainly composed of structural motifs, such as VO₄, BO₃, BiO_3, and BiO₆. The electrochemical properties of the glass cathode material have been investigated by the galvanostatic charge-discharge method and cyclic voltammetry, and the results show that with the increases of Bi₂O₃ molar content, the amount of the VO₄ group increases, and the network structure of the glass becomes more stable. To further enhance the electrochemical properties, glass-ceramic materials have been obtained by heat treatment, and the effect of the heat treatment temperature on the structure and electrochemical properties of the glass has been studied. The results show that the initial discharge capacity of the glass-ceramic cathode obtained by heat treatment at 280 °C at a current density of 50 mA·g⁻¹ is 333.4 mAh·g⁻¹. In addition, after several cycles of charging and discharging at a high current density of 1000 mA·g⁻¹ and then 10 cycles at 50 mA·g⁻¹, its discharge capacity remains at approximately 300 mAh·g⁻¹ with a capacity retention rate of approximately 90.0%. The results indicate that a proper heat treatment temperature is crucial to improving the electrochemical properties of glass materials. This study provides an approach for the development of new glass cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries.

In this study, lychee-like TiO₂@Fe₂O₃ microspheres with a core-shell structure have been prepared by coating Fe₂O₃ on the surface of TiO₂ mesoporous microspheres using the homogeneous precipitation method. The structural and micromorphological characterization of TiO₂@Fe₂O₃ microspheres has been carried out using XRD, FE-SEM, and Raman, and the results show that hematite Fe₂O₃ particles (7.05% of the total mass) are uniformly coated on the surface of anatase TiO₂ microspheres, and the specific surface area of this material is 14.72 m² g⁻¹. The electrochemical performance test results show that after 200 cycles at 0.2 C current density, the specific capacity of TiO₂@Fe₂O₃ anode material increases by 219.3% compared with anatase TiO₂, reaching 591.5 mAh g⁻¹; after 500 cycles at 2 C current density, the discharge specific capacity of TiO₂@Fe₂O₃ reaches 273.1 mAh g⁻¹, and its discharge specific capacity, cycle stability, and multiplicity performance are superior to those of commercial graphite. In comparison with anatase TiO₂ and hematite Fe₂O₃, TiO₂@Fe₂O₃ has higher conductivity and lithium-ion diffusion rate, thereby enhancing its rate performance. The electron density of states (DOS) of TiO₂@Fe₂O₃ shows its metallic nature by DFT calculations, revealing the essential reason for the high electronic conductivity of TiO₂@Fe₂O₃. This study presents a novel strategy for identifying suitable anode materials for commercial lithium-ion batteries.

Due to the volume expansion effect during charge and discharge processes, the application of transition metal oxide anode materials in lithium-ion batteries is limited. Composite materials and carbon coating are often considered feasible improvement methods. In this study, three types of TiO₂@Fe₃O₄@C microspheres with a core–double-shell structure, namely TFCS (TiO₂@Fe₃O₄@C with 0.0119 g PVP), TFCM (TiO₂@Fe₃O₄@C with 0.0238 g PVP), and TFCL (TiO₂@Fe₃O₄@C with 0.0476 g PVP), were prepared using PVP (polyvinylpyrrolidone) as the carbon source through homogeneous precipitation and high-temperature carbonization methods. After 500 cycles at a current density of 2 C, the specific capacities of these three microspheres are all higher than that of TiO₂@Fe₂O₃ with significantly improved cycling stability. Among them, TFCM exhibits the highest specific capacity of 328.3 mAh·g⁻¹, which was attributed to the amorphous carbon layer effectively mitigating the capacity decay caused by the volume expansion of iron oxide during charge and discharge processes. Additionally, the carbon coating layer enhances the electrical conductivity of the TiO₂@Fe₃O₄@C materials, thereby improving their rate performance. Within the range of 100 to 1600 mA·g⁻¹, the capacity retention rates for TiO₂@Fe₂O₃, TFCS, TFCM, and TFCL are 27.2%, 35.2%, 35.9%, and 36.9%, respectively. This study provides insights into the development of new lithium-ion battery anode materials based on Ti and Fe oxides with the abundance and environmental friendliness of iron, titanium, and carbon resources in TiO₂@Fe₃O₄@C microsphere anode materials, making this strategy potentially applicable.

Anatase TiO₂ hierarchically structured microspheres with co-exposed {001}/{101} facets were prepared by a facile one-pot hydrothermal method. The influences of reaction temperature on the morphology and crystallization of microspheres were investigated systematically. The obtained microspheres possessed better morphology and crystallization when the reaction temperature was 160 °C. Different noble metals (Au, Ag, Cu, Pt, Pd) were used for the microspheres modification, and the experimental results exhibited that the photocatalytic activities of the noble metal modified microspheres were enhanced obviously, especially for the Pt-modified sample (TPt), which showed the highest photocatalytic activity in degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride (the TPt sample showed the largest improvement, i.e., the activity reached 1.47 times higher than that of the bare sample) and hydrogen production (the largest improvement was also observed for the TPt sample, i.e., the activity was more than 30 times as the bare sample, reaching more than 300 μmol·g⁻¹·h⁻¹). Finally, a photocatalytic reaction mechanism involving the synergy of co-exposed {001}/{101} crystal facets with noble metals was proposed according to the as-obtained experimental results.