Microspheres integrating Ti₂O₃ nanocrystals, carbon matrix, and vertical graphene enable fast ion transport for fast-charging lithium-ion batteries

Developing fast-charging high-energy lithium-ion battery, with a charging time of 8-10 min, is highly urgent in upcoming applications but still is a challenge. Although various routes have been proposed, almost all the reports for high-rate anodes are simply investigated under non-industrial electrode conditions due to the lack of developed ion transport path. Herein, we develop a novel Ti₂O₃-based composite microspheres that Ti₂O₃ nanocrystals are uniformly distributed in carbon matrix followed by growing vertical graphene nanosheets on surface of microspheres. The surface-growth graphene, together with carbon matrix, construct a highly developed Li⁺ transport route in whole electrode, which endows the composite microspheres with fast charging/discharge behaviors under industrial electrode conditions (areal capacity loading of above 3.2 mAh cm⁻², amount of binder and conductive agents of below 4 wt%, and electrode density of above 1.6 g cm⁻³). In full cell, a high energy density of 80.4 Wh kg⁻¹ is achieved at a charge time of only 7.8 min at 5 C and retains 66.9% of energy density obtained at 0.1 C, which is among the top in previous reports on fast-charging high-energy lithium-ion batteries.