Characterization and electrochemical study of a Prussian blue analogue: titanium hexacyanoferrate

Rechargeable batteries play an important role in portable consumer devices. Formulation of such batteries improved by researching new materials with higher performances of cyclability and negligible loss of efficiency throughout cycling. The goal of this work was to investigate a porous electrodic material, titanium hexacyanoferrate, and characterize it through a variety of analytical techniques. Synthesis was carried out by dropwise precipitation method, and characterization employed the use of techniques such as TGA, XRD, and ICP-OES. Electrochemical tests were performed both in glass and coin cells. Cyclic voltammetry was used in order to explore the electrochemical properties of titanium exacyanoferrate in aqueous solutions, all while selecting for optimal conditions. With the use of Na+ and K+ salts, the studied material exhibited reversible processes and relatively high capacities. Coin cells were used to analyze the behavior of the material under galvanostatic cycling. The material displayed cathodic characteristics yielding a specific capacity of 35mAh/g at high potential, paving the way for future study on high power batteries.