## 1 Introduction  
With the commercialization of the lithium-ion battery by Sony in 1991, battery technology experienced an enormous boom; the development of portable cellphones, laptops, cameras, and other electronic devices became more common. Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are not limited to portable electronic devices but are also seen as a potential replacement for fossil fuels. They are considered a cleaner energy source for electric vehicles, and viable energy storage for wind turbines and other large-scale applications [1; 2]. With the increase of research for the application of LIBs in these areas, improvement in battery chemistry becomes imperative. To this end, 1D and 2D-nanostructures such as nanoparticles, nanofibers, carbon nanotubes, and graphene have been widely proposed as alternative electrode materials for LIBs [3; 4; 5; 6] and supercapacitors [7; 8; 9; 10]. Several groups have focused on the use of nanotechnology to improve existing lithium-ion battery technology, by taking advantage of the large surface area to volume ratio of nanostructured materials [11; 12; 13]. An increase in surface area increases the number of reactive sites available for lithium intercalation, thus improving battery capacity and performance. While nanotechnology can be used in many aspects of LIBs, most research has focused on the anode material [6; 14; 15]. Graphite has been extensively used as the anode material in commercial LIBs due to its low intercalation/deintercalation potential, long cycle life, and low cost. However, the low theoretical capacity of the graphite anode (372 mA g\({}^{-1}\)) requires the development of higher capacity anodes for high performance LIBs [1; 16; 17; 18; 19]. Furthermore, the low operating voltage of the graphite anode leads to the formation of dendritic lithium on the graphite anode, resulting in serious safety problems and cycling instability [20]. Various metal oxides have been investigated as potential candidates for next-generation LIB anode materials due to their superior lithium storage properties, between 500 and 1000 mAh g\({}^{-1}\), and abundance [5; 21; 22]. In particular, TiO\({}_{2}\) and Fe\({}_{2}\)O\({}_{3}\) are very promising anode materials, due to their low cost and acceptable charge/discharge capacities [15; 23; 24; 25; 26]. TiO\({}_{2}\) stores Li via the insertion reaction mechanism, and it exhibits different crystal structures such as anatase, rutile, brookite, and TiO\({}_{2}\) (B) (bronze) [22; 27]. The most desired crystalline structure is anatase, due to its superior lithiation ability [28]. TiO\({}_{2}\)-based anodes also exhibit low volume expansion (\(<\) 4%) [29] upon repeated charge/discharge cycles, due to the layered crystalline structure and high lithium insertion potential of 1.5-1.7 V vs. Li/Li+, which eliminates the potential for both dendrite formation and gas formation due to electrolyte reactions [5; 16; 30]. Recently, [PERSON] et al. [31] conducted a combined operando X ray diffraction and in situ pressure analysis study on a graphite anode. The results showed that the total volume expansion of the graphite anode was 13.2% when C\({}_{6}\) was fully lithiated to LiC\({}_{6}\). In addition, anatase TiO\({}_{2}\) is considered the most electroactive Li-insertion host for Li and has rapid Li insertion/de-insertion kinetics [15]. However, some drawbacks include low electrical conductivity, due to its semi-conductive properties, poor electron transport, and modest theoretical capacity of 333 mAh g\({}^{-1}\)[1; 22; 28]. Integrating TiO\({}_{2}\) with a more conductive metal-oxide with a higher theoretical capacity can improve the capacity and electrochemical performance of the TiO\({}_{2}\) anode. Fe\({}_{2}\)O\({}_{3}\) is a transition metal oxide that follows a conversion reaction mechanism during electrode reactions [27; 32].