Graphene-encapsulated Li2MnTi3O8 nanoparticles as a high rate anode material for lithium-ion batteries

• The new titanate graphene-encapsulated Li2MnTi3O8 is prepared by a one step sol-gel method.
• Both of Li2MnTi3O8 and graphene-encapsulated Li2MnTi3O8 show an excellent cycling stability.
• Graphene-encapsulation obviously improve the rate capability of Li2MnTi3O8.

Graphene-encapsulated Li2MnTi3O8 nanoparticles were synthesized via a modified sol-gel process using graphene oxide as the template. The prepared Li2MnTi3O8 material has a complex spinel structure in the P4332 space group. The morphology of the graphene-encapsulated Li2MnTi3O8 composite indicates that the Li2MnTi3O8 particles can be uniformly scattered on a graphene substrate, and these particles have a size of 10–20 nm. The electrochemical properties indicate that the graphene-encapsulated Li2MnTi3O8 material possesses a stable reversible discharge capacity of ∼220 mAh g-1 after 50 cycles at 0.1 C. In addition, the reversible capacity at 2 C improved by 70% after graphene-encapsulation, which indicates the excellent high rate capability.