Highly porous Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ films as high-rate electrodes for fast lithium ion storage

ABSTRACT

Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ (LTO) is one of the most promising high-power anodes for lithium ion batteries, but its large-current performance is still undermined due to relatively poor ion/electron transfer. In this work, we report a powerful hydrothermal method for fabrication of highly porous binder-free Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ films, which show hierarchical structure composed of interconnected primary nanoparticles of 50-100 nm and secondary nanowalls. The lithium ion storage performance of designed Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ films is thoroughly studied and demonstrated with excellent high-rate performance. The as-prepared Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ films exhibit a high specific capacity of 146 mAh g^-1 at the current density of 2 C. In view of good structural stability, a notable cycling stability is verified with a specific capacity of 130 mAh g^-1 after 5000 cycles at 2 C. Our method provides a novel route for synthesis of other advanced anodes for application in the field of ultrafast energy storage.

Graphical abstract

Highly porous binder-free Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ films are synthesised via a hydrothermal method and exhibit a noticeable high-rate electrochemical performance as the anode of lithium ion batteries.

KEYWORDS:

• Lithium titanate
• films
• porous electrodes
• anodes
• lithium ion batteries

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by projects from material corrosion and protection key laboratory of Sichuan province (2015CL11), education department of Hunan province (15A129), Hunan Provincial Natural Science Foundation (14JJ2123), Key R&D project of Hunan Province (2019NK2033), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51772272), Natural Science Funds for Distinguished Young Scholar of Zhejiang Province (Grant No. LR20E020001), Startup Foundation for Hundred-Talent Program of Zhejiang University, and National youth talent support program of China.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by projects from material corrosion and protection key laboratory of Sichuan province [2015CL11], education department of Hunan province [15A129], Hunan Provincial Natural Science Foundation [14JJ2123], Key R&D project of Hunan Province [2019NK2033], National Natural Science Foundation of China [51772272], Natural Science Funds for Distinguished Young Scholar of Zhejiang Province [LR20E020001].