Novel Cigarlike TiO<sub>2</sub> Nanofibers: Fabrication,
Improved Mechanical, and Electrochemical Performances
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Abstract
By
coupling the self-assembly of polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene oxide)
(PS-b-PEO) containing titanium precursors with the electrospinning
technique, novel cigarlike nanofibers with an outer-shell and inner-continuous-pore
structure and resultant fabrics were fabricated. Different from typical
porous metal oxides, the prepared high-surface-area nonwoven fabrics
show excellent mechanical properties. Not only are these fabrics self-supporting
over a large area, but they can also be cut using scissors, which
is important for large-scale applications. Furthermore, as electrode
materials in Li-ion batteries, these fabrics exhibit much higher charge/discharge
capacity and cycle stability compared with the commercially available
nanosized TiO<sub>2</sub> (P25). The improved mechanical and electrochemical
performances are attributed to the presence of an outer-shell, inner-bicontinuous
structures (including continuous TiO<sub>2</sub> frame and continuous
nanopores) and hierarchical pores from the cigarlike nanofibers