Multifunctional TiO(2) Nanotube-Matrix Composites with Enhanced Photocatalysis and Lithium-Ion Storage Performances

As a multifunctional material, TiO(2) shows excellent performance in catalytic degradation and lithium-ion storage. However, high electron-hole pair recombination, poor conductivity, and low theoretical capacity severely limit the practical application of TiO(2). Herein, TiO(2) nanotube (TiO(2) NT) with a novel double-layer honeycomb structure were prepared by two-step electrochemical anodization. Honeycombed TiO(2) NT arrays possess clean top surfaces and a long-range ordering, which greatly facilitates the preparation of high-performance binary and ternary materials. A binary TiO(2) nanotube@Au nanoparticle (TiO(2) NT@Au NP) composite accompanied by appropriately concentrated and uniformly distributed gold particles was prepared in this work. Interestingly, the TiO(2) nanotube@Au nanoparticle (TiO(2) NT@Au NP) composites not only showed the excellent catalytic degradation effect of methylene blue, but also demonstrated large lithium-ion storage capacity (310.6 μAh cm(−2), 1.6 times of pristine TiO(2) NT). Based on the realization of the controllable fabrication of binary TiO(2) nanotube@MoS(2) nanosheet (TiO(2) NT@MoS(2) NS) composite, ternary TiO(2) nanotube@MoS(2) nanosheet@Au nanoparticle (TiO(2) NT@MoS(2) NS@Au NP) composite with abundant defects and highly ordered structure was also innovatively designed and fabricated. As expected, the TiO(2) NT@MoS(2) NS@Au NP anode exhibits extremely high initial discharge specific capacity (487.4 μAh cm(−2), 2.6 times of pristine TiO(2) NT) and excellent capacity retention (81.0%).