In-situ constructing of hierarchical Li4Ti5O12-TiO2 microspheres assembled by nanosheets for lithium-ion batteries

The hierarchical Li4Ti5O12-TiO2 (LTO-TO) microspheres assembled by nanosheets have been in-situ synthesized through a facile hydrothermal method. The hierarchical LTO-TO microspheres have an average size of about 800 nm and the nanosheets with thickness of about 10 nm. Benefiting from the special two-dimensional nanostructure with large contact surface areas with the electrolyte and significantly shortened transport lengths of lithium ions, which are critical for enhancing cycle performance and rate capability of LIBs. The prepared product exhibits excellent cycling performance which delivers a stable reversible specific capacity of 177.3 mAh g−1 at a current rate of 0.5 C after 660 cycles, and the high rates capacity is 113.7 mAh g−1 at 10 C.