Ultra-long life core-shell structure Li4Ti5O12/C nanocomposite anode materials for lithium ion batteries

The Li4Ti5O12/C nanocomposite was prepared via a hydrothermal method following by annealing treatment at 700 °C for 6 h. In this method, cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) was applied as structure directing agent to synthesize Li4Ti5O12 nanoparticles with narrow size distribution and as a carbon source to enhance the electronic conductivity of Li4Ti5O12 nanoparticles. The resulting Li4Ti5O12/C nanocomposite exhibits a core-shell structure and is consisted of irregular aggregated nanoparticles with a size of approximately 90 nm. When used as anode materials for lithium ion batteries, the obtained Li4Ti5O12/C nanocomposites display an excellent discharge capacity of 160.6 mAh/g at 0.5 C after 100 cycles. And even after 1000 cycles at 20 C, the discharge capacity could still maintain 106.8 mAh/g with a capacity loss of only 0.004% per cycle.