Synthesis of nano-sized Li4Ti5O12/C composite anode material with excellent high-rate performance

Li4Ti5O12/C composite anode material was synthesized via solid-state reaction using lithium citrate as lithium source and carbon source. The formation of carbon and its influence on the particle size, morphology and electrochemical properties of the Li4Ti5O12/C composite were investigated in this paper. The results showed that the particles of Li4Ti5O12/C were uniformly distributed with the average particle size of 70 nm and were highly crystalline. The as-prepared sample exhibited high discharge specific capacity and excellent high-rate capability. At 0.2 C, the initial discharge capacity was 176.2 mAh/g. Even at 20 C, the initial discharge capacity could reach 121.1 mAh/g, which retained 106.1 mAh/g after 100 cycles. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.