Li4Ti5O12 Nanoparticles Prepared with Gel-hydrothermal Process as a High Performance Anode Material for Li-ion Batteries

Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ (LTO) nanoparticles were prepared by gel‐hydrothermal process and subsequent calcination treatment. Calcination treatment led to structural water removal, decomposition of organics and primary formation of LTO. The formation temperature of spinel LTO nanoparticles was lower than that of bulk materials counterpart prepared by solid‐state reaction or by sol‐gel processing. Based on the thermal gravimetric analysis (TG) and differential thermal gravimetric (DTG), samples calcined at different temperatures (350, 500 and 700°C) were characterized by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), field emitting scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), cyclic voltammogram and charge‐discharge cycling tests. A phase transition during the calcination process was observed from the XRD patterns. And the sample calcined at 500°C had a distribution of diameters around 20 nm and exhibited large capacity and good high rate capability. The well reversible cyclic voltammetric results of both electrodes indicated enhanced electrochemical kinetics for lithium insertion. It was found that the Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ anode material prepared through gel‐hydrothermal process, when being cycled at 8 C, could preserve 76.6% of the capacity at 0.3 C. Meanwhile, the discharge capacity can reach up to 160.3 mAh·g^?1 even after 100 cycles at 1 C, close to the theoretical capacity of 175 mAh·g^?1. The gel‐hydrothermal method seemed to be a promising method to synthesize LTO nanoparticles with good application in lithium ion batteries and electrochemical cells.