Suppression of interfacial reactions between Li4Ti5O12 electrode and electrolyte solution via zinc oxide coating

Li4Ti5O12 (LTO) based batteries have severe gassing behavior during charge/discharge and storage process. The interfacial reactions between LTO and electrolyte solution may be the main reason. In this work, the LTO spinel particles are modified with ZnO coating using a chemical process to reduce the surface reactivity of LTO particles. Results show that the ZnO coating can effectively stabilize the electrode/electrolyte interface and suppress the formation of a solid electrolyte interface (SEI) film. Simultaneously, this ZnO modification can improve the electronic conductivity and lithium ion diffusion coefficient, which contributes to a great improvement in cyclic and high rate capabilities of LTO electrode. The ZnO coating on LTO may be an effective method to restrict the gassing behavior of LTO based battery. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.