Facile synthesis and electrochemical characterization of porous and dense TiO2 nanospheres for lithium-ion battery applications

► A simple two-step method was used to fabricate nanoporous or dense TiO2 nanospheres. ► Large specific surface area nanoporous material assembled from ∼5 nm TiO2 nanocrystal. ► Electrochemical tests show nanoporous TiO2 has higher rate capability than dense TiO2. ► Our results describe an efficient route to optimize high rate lithium-ion batteries.