Influence of cooling mode on the electrochemical properties of Li4Ti5O12 anode materials for lithium-ion batteries

Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ (LTO) was synthesized with two different cooling methods by solid-state method, namely fast cooling and air cooling. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), galvanostatic charge–discharge test, cyclic voltammetry (CV), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), respectively. XRD revealed that the basic LTO structure was not changed. FESEM images showed that fast cooling effectively reduced the particle sizes and the agglomeration of particles. Galvanostatic charge–discharge test showed that the air cooling sample exhibited a mediocre performance, having an initial discharge capacity of 136.3mAh?·?g^?1 at 0.5 C; however, the fast cooling sample demonstrated noticeable improvement in both of its discharge capacity and rate capability, with a high initial capacity value of 142.7 mAh?·?g^?1 at 0.5 C. CV measurements also revealed that fast cooling enhanced the reversibility of the LTO. EIS confirmed that fast cooling resulted in lower electrochemical polarization and a higher lithium-ion diffusion coefficient. Therefore, fast cooling have a great impact on discharge capacity, rate capability, and cycling performance of LTO anode materials for lithium-ion batteries.