Sol-gel derived lithium titanate powders measured by XPS method

For sol-gel synthesis lithium acetate dehydrate from Alfa Aesar GmbH &Co and titanium (IV) butoxide 97% from Aldrich were used as reagents. Copper (II) nitrate from Alfa Aesar was used as a source of Cu dopant. It was added in the proper weight to get an x index equal 0, 0.1 and 0.2. In the first step lithium acetate and copper nitrate were dissolved in ethanol using magnetic stirrer. After that titanium (IV) butoxide was added. Subsequently, prepared sol was mixed at room temperature for 10 minutes until it transformed into homogenous gel. The gel was then left for seven days in open laboratory flask at room temperature to evaporate the solvent. After that it was dried at 100oC for 20 hours in argon atmosphere. The gel was then calcined in argon atmosphere for 20 hours at 550oC. Finally, dark grey powder samples were compressed into pellets. Chemical state of the Ti was investigated by Omicron NanoTechnology X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS). The photoelectrons were excited by a MgKa X-ray source operated at 15 keV and 300 W. In this dataset Ti2p specra are presented,