Spinel lithium titanate anode/polyether sulfone nanocomposite synthesized by pulsed laser ablation method for optoelectronic applications

Nowadays, to increase the usage of energy storage applications like electric cars or sta-tionary storage, the cost of these manufacturers must be reduced. Our present study focuses on an alternate electrode production approach to suit the needs of today's lithium ion battery's cost effi-ciency by using an eco-friendly method, the pulsed laser ablation method in liquid media technique, which was used for the first time to synthesize spinel lithium titanate anode, Li4Ti5O12 nanoparticles (LTO NPs), and incorporate them with polyether sulfone (PES) in just one step to form a PES/LTO nanocomposite. The evidence from XRD showed that the nanocomposite film is formed as a crys-talline phase from a cubic spinel structure corresponding to LTO, with crystalline sizes around 9.4 nm. Furthermore, SEM revealed a semi-spherical distribution of LTO NPs throughout the PES matrix. Also, the elemental analysis provides the elemental peaks for C, S, Ti, and O, and no other elemental peaks do, confirming their purity. Moreover, the FT-IR investigation affirmed the interaction between PES and LTO NPs via the sulfone group with the breakage of the sulfur and oxygen double bond and the formation of a new link between S-O-La and S-O-Ti that may be responsible for the emergence of this band. Also, the absorption study confirmed the formation of localized states between occupied and unoccupied molecular orbital bands is made feasible by the chemical linkages between PES chains and LTO NPs. As a result of the dielectric investigation, LTO NPs are a good choice for usage as dopants to enhance the electrical characteristics of PES polymer. Overall, the PES/LTO nanocomposite films' improved dielectric and optical properties make them appropriate for energy storage applications.(c) 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).