In situ growth enabling ideal graphene encapsulation upon mesocrystalline MTiO₃ (M = Ni, Co, Fe) nanorods for stable lithium storage

Ilmenite-type MTiO₃ (M = Ni, Co, Fe) with high theoretical specific capacity, wide availability, and low cost is a potential anode material for lithium storage, but its poor cycling stability is fatal. Here, we propose a general material design strategy to encapsulate MTiO₃ nanorods with in situ grown few-layer graphene through a facile plasma-enhanced CVD route for stable lithium storage. Under the reductive plasma-enhanced CVD atmosphere, partially reduced Ni served as a self-catalysis substrate for in situ graphene growth, resulting in the perfect encapsulation of NiTiO₃ nanorods with few-layer graphene. The graphene coating helps to retain the electrical connectivity during cycling, which is beneficial for better cycling performance and rate capability. Stable cycling (500 cycles at 0.2 A g^-1; 83% capacity retention) is achieved with the NiTiO₃@graphene nanorods.