Towards Environment-friendly and versatile energy storage Devices: Design and preparation of mesoporous Li4Ti5O12-TiO2 nano-hybrid electrode materials

Abstract

Conventional lithium ion batteries (LIBs) present issues with ion transfer capability, and the low electronic conductivity of Li4Ti5O12 (LTO) could limit usage in energy applications. Herein, we report integrated Li4Ti5O12-TiO2 (LTO-TO) nano-hybrid synthesis by a solvothermal technique followed by a calcination process, where the phase composition of TO in LTO is optimized to enhance the rate capability and cyclic stability of the as-prepared materials. The homogeneous composite of integrated LTO-TO-4 nano-hybrid accomplish the superior cyclic performance and reversibility compared to the other compositions due to the existence of optimized secondary phase of TiO2 by using the surfactant. In the interim, to signify the outstanding rate capability of as-prepared integrated LTO-TO-4 nano-hybrid is cycled at different current densities from 100 to 8000 mA g−1 and the obtained specific capacities are 468, 337, 268, 235, 211, and 183 mAh g−1, respectively. In addition, after 300 cycles at a current density of 5000 mA g−1, as-prepared integrated LTO-TO-4 nano-hybrid depicts the specific capacity of 198 mAh g−1. From the synthetic procedure with optimized conditions and systematic characterizations, the formation of integrated LTO-TO-4 nano-hybrid shows an improved electrochemical performance than the other compositions.