Abstract
Graphite as a commercial anode for lithium-ion batteries has significant safety concerns owing to lithium dendrite growth at low operating voltages. Li4Ti5O12 is a potential candidate to replace graphite as the next-generation anode of lithium-ion batteries. In this work, fluoride-doped Li4Ti5O12 was successfully synthesized with a direct double coating of carbon and nitrogen using a solid-state method followed by the pyrolysis process of polyaniline. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results show that the addition of fluoride is successfully doped to the spinel-type structure of Li4Ti5O12 without any impurities being detected. The carbon and nitrogen coating are distributed on the surface of Li4Ti5O12 particles, as shown in the Scanning Electron Microscopy–Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) image. The Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) image shows a thin layer of carbon coating on the Li4Ti5O12 surface. The fluoride-doped Li4Ti5O12 has the highest specific discharge capacity of 165.38 mAh g−1 at 0.5 C and capacity fading of 93.51% after 150 cycles compared to other samples, indicating improved electrochemical performance. This is attributed to the synergy between the appropriate amount of carbon and nitrogen coating, which induced a high mobility of electrons and larger crystallite size due to the insertion of fluoride to the spinel-type structure of Li4Ti5O12, enhancing lithium-ion transfer during the insertion/extraction process.
Highlights
Today, a lithium-ion battery is a secondary battery that is most widely used as an energy source
Various strategies [4] and new alternative designs for anode materials are continuously being promoted to overcome this problem without sacrificing their capacity and stability capabilities
The as-prepared material after calcination was coated with carbon and nitrogen by the pyrolysis of Polyaniline (Merck, 99%) at temperature 700 ◦C in an Argon gas tube furnace for 1 h
Summary
A lithium-ion battery is a secondary battery that is most widely used as an energy source. In the modern era of transportation that prioritizes environmentally friendly energy consumption such as hybrid or fully electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries are the only reliable energy source because of several advantages, namely high capacity, large power density and long service life [1]. One of the important factors in designing lithium-ion batteries relates to ensuring safety. Commercial lithium-ion batteries still use carbon as the anode material, which has potential safety concerns. The application of lithium-ion batteries for a long duration and a high current density has a higher risk. Many alternative anode materials have been investigated, especially in the aspect of high-rate capability applications; one of them is Li4Ti5O12 (LTO) [5]
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