High temperature X-ray diffraction study of the formation of Na2Ti3O7 from a mixture of sodium carbonate and titanium oxide

Na2Ti3O7 has attracted much attention in the field of anode materials for Na-ion batteries thanks to its non-toxicity and very low working potential of 0.3 V vs Na0/Na+. Building a clearer picture of its formation from cheap Na2CO3 and TiO2 starting materials is therefore of obvious interest. Here, we report new insights from an in-situ high temperature X-ray diffraction study conducted from room temperature to 800 °C, complemented by ex-situ characterizations. We were thereby able to position the previously reported Na4Ti5O12 and Na2Ti6O13 intermediate phases in a reaction scheme involving three successive steps and temperature ranges. Shifts and/or broadening of a subset of the Na2Ti6O13 reflections suggested a combination of intra-layer disorder with the well-established ordering of successive layers. This in-situ study was carried out on reproducible mixtures of Na2CO3 and TiO2 in 1:3 molar ratio prepared by spray-drying of mixed aqueous suspensions. Single-phase Na2Ti3O7 was obtained after only 8 h at 800 °C in air, instead of a minimum of 20 h for a conventional solid-state route using the same precursors. Microstructure analysis revealed ~ 15 µm diameter granules made up from rectangular rods of a few-µm length presenting electrochemical properties in line with expectations. In the absence of grinding or formation of intimate composites with conductive carbon, the specific capacity of 137 mAh/g at C/5 decreased at higher rates.