EASY SYNTHESIS OF Li4Ti5O12/C MICROSPHERES CONTAINING NANOPARTICLES AS ANODE MATERIAL FOR HIGH-RATE Li-ION BATTERIES
A microspherical Li 4 Ti 5 O 12/ C composite composed of interconnected nanoparticles with BP-2000 carbon black as carbon source is synthesized for use as an anode material in high-power lithium-ion batteries. The composite is prepared through precursor pretreatment including pre-sintering, ball-milling, and spray-drying. The structure, size and surface morphology of the as-prepared particles are investigated by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Results show that the obtained material has a microspherical morphology consisting of nanosized prime particles with compact structure. The precursor pretreatment effectively reduced the agglomeration of the prime particles caused by high temperature sintering and led to a more uniform distribution of BP-2000 on the surface of prime particles generating highly efficient conductive network. The specific capacity of the electrode at 20 C rate is 131 mAh g-1 and the loss of capacity is less than 2% after the 60 variation cycles (from 1 C to 20 C and back to 1 C). This excellent performance is attributed to the effective conductive network between the prime particles and the reduction of the lithium-ion diffusion pathway.