Mesoporous spherical Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ as high-performance anodes for lithium-ion batteries

Guojun Du; Zhaolin Liu; Siok Wei Tay; Xiaogang Liu; Aishui Yu

doi:10.1002/asia.201402224

Mesoporous spherical Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ as high-performance anodes for lithium-ion batteries

Chem Asian J. 2014 Sep;9(9):2514-8. doi: 10.1002/asia.201402224. Epub 2014 Jun 6.

Authors

Guojun Du¹, Zhaolin Liu, Siok Wei Tay, Xiaogang Liu, Aishui Yu

Affiliation

¹ Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), 3 Research Link, 117602 (Singapore), Fax: (+65) 68720785; Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, 3 Science Drive 3, 117543 (Singapore).

PMID: 24909929
DOI: 10.1002/asia.201402224

Abstract

Porous microspherical Li4Ti5O12 aggregates (LTO-PSA) can be successfully prepared by using porous spherical TiO2 as a titanium source and lithium acetate as a lithium source followed by calcinations. The synthesized LTO-PSA possess outstanding morphology, with nanosized, porous, and spherical distributions, that allow good electrochemical performances, including high reversible capacity, good cycling stability, and impressive rate capacity, to be achieved. The specific capacity of the LTO-PSA at 30 C is as high as 141 mA h g(-1), whereas that of normal Li4Ti5O12 powders prepared by a sol-gel method can only achieve 100 mA h g(-1). This improved rate performance can be ascribed to small Li4Ti5O12 nanocrystallites, a three-dimensional mesoporous structure, and enhanced ionic conductivity.

Keywords: aggregates; electrochemistry; lithium-ion battery; mesoporous materials; nanoparticles.