Wet-chemistry synthesis of Li4Ti5O12 as anode materials rendering high-rate Li-ion storage

Compared with traditional anode materials, spinel-structured Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ (LTO) with “zero-strain” characteristic offers better cycling stability. In this work, by a wet-chemistry synthesis method, LTO anode materials have been successfully synthesized by using CH₃COOLi·2H₂O and C₁₆H₃₆O₄Ti as raw materials. The results show that sintering conditions significantly affect purity, uniformity of particle sizes, and electrochemical properties of as-prepared LTO materials. The optimized LTO product calcined at 650°C for 20 hours demonstrates small particle sizes and excellent electrochemical performances. It delivers an initial discharge capacity of 242.3 mAh g^?1 and remains at 117.4 mAh g^?1 over 500 cycles at the current density of 60 mA g^?1 in the voltage range of 1.0 to 3.0 V. When current density is increased to 1200 mA g^?1, its discharge capacity reaches 115.6 mAh g^?1 at the first cycle and remains at 64.6 mAh g^?1 after 2500 cycles. The excellent electrochemical performances of LTO can be attributed to the introduction of rutile TiO₂ phase and small particle sizes, which increases electrical conductivity and electrode kinetics of LTO. Therefore, as-synthesized LTO in this study can be regarded as a promising anode candidate material for lithium-ion batteries.