Tunable Polymer Nanoreactors from RAFT Polymerization-Induced Self-Assembly: Fabrication of Nanostructured Carbon-Coated Anatase as Battery Anode Materials with Variable Morphology and Porosity

Abstract

We demonstrate a modular synthesis approach to yield mesoporous carbon-coated anatase (denoted as TiO2/C) nanostructures. Combining polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) and reversible addition–fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) dispersion polymerization enabled the fabrication of uniform core–shell polymeric nanoreactors with tunable morphologies. The nanoreactors comprised of a poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA) shell and a poly(benzyl methacrylate) (PBzMA) core. We selected worm-like and vesicular morphologies to guide the nanostructuring of a TiO2 precursor, namely, titanium(IV) bis(ammonium lactato)dihydroxide (TALH). Subsequent carbonization yielded nanocrystalline anatase and simultaneously introduced a porous carbon framework, which also suppressed the crystal growth (∼5 nm crystallites). The as-prepared TiO2/C materials comprised of a porous structure, with large specific surface areas (>85 m2/g) and various carbon contents (20–30 wt %). As anode components in lithium-ion batteries, our TiO2/C nanomaterials improved the cycling stability, facilitated high overall capacities, and minimized the capacity loss compared to both their sans carbon and commercial anatase analogues.