Synthesis of chromium-doped lithium titanate microspheres as high-performance anode material for lithium ion batteries

In spite of promising properties as anode material in lithium-ion batteries, lithium titanate (Li4Ti5O12) is far from perfection due to low electronic conductivity, which limits rate stability. To overcome this shortage, in this work, we developed a simple and low-cost procedure for the synthesis of Cr-doped Li4Ti5O12, which involves a versatile solution-based method, spray drying, which enables ion-level mixing of liquid components. Through galvanostatic charge-discharge tests, the electrode made from Cr-doped Li4Ti5O12 microspheres shows much smaller hysteresis at high current density (e.g., 20 C) compared to plain Li4Ti5O12 samples. Besides, the Cr-doped microspheres achieve high rate stability of the capacity at higher current densities. The produced Cr-doped Li4Ti5O12 sample also performs excellent cycling stability at high current densities. The sample demonstrates 99.4%, 98.1%, 94.3% and 94.8% of its initial discharge capacities at 2 C, 5 C, 10 C and 20 C rates after 100 cycles, respectively.