Comparative study of carbon free and carbon containing Li4Ti5O12 electrodes

Traditionally electrodes for lithium ion batteries are manufactured using carbon additives to increase the conductivity. However, in case of lithium titanate, Li4Ti5O12 (LTO), carbon free electrodes have gathered some interest lately. Therefore two LTO materials synthesized using the same synthesis but different end milling process resulting in materials with different particle size and surface area are compared here using electrodes manufactured with and without carbon additives. Both LTO samples (LTO-SP with small primary particle size and high surface area, and LTO-LP with larger primary particle size and small surface area) produce similar capacities and voltages with or without carbon additives at low C-rates at the room temperature. However, at high C-rates and/or sub-zero temperatures electrodes with carbon additives produce higher capacities and smaller ohmic losses and this behavior is more pronounced for the LTO electrodes with smaller primary particle size and larger surface area. These results show that the feasibility of carbon free LTO electrodes depends on the properties of LTO affecting the morphology of the electrode and consequently, the transport properties. This is most pronounced under conditions where electron and Li+ ion transfer become limiting (high C-rates and low temperature).