Rapid Synthesis of Li4Ti5O12 Microspheres as Anode Materials and Its Binder Effect for Lithium-Ion Battery

Li4Ti5O12 microspheres composed of nanoflakes were synthesized within 1 h by a combination of a microwave-assisted hydrothermal method and a microwave postannealing process. The Li4Ti5O12 microspheres were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller N-2 adsorption, scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) was also investigated as a low-cost green binder. The electrochemical tests, including constant current charge-discharge, cyclic voltammetry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, demonstrated that the electrode using CMC as binder had better high-rate capability than the one with polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) binder. The electrode using CMC and PVDF as binder had the same lithium diffusion coefficient. The electrode using CMC as binder showed much lower charge transfer resistance, lower apparent activation energy, and lower apparent diffusion activation energy than for the electrode using PVDF as the binder. Apparent activation energies of Li4Ti5O12 microsphere electrodes using CMC and PVDF as binder were calculated to be 26.8 and 33.6 kJ mol(-1), respectively.