Novel Ag/Li4Ti5O12 binary composite anode electrodes for high capacity Li-ion batteries

•Spinel lithium titanates Li4Ti5O12 were produced via facile sol–gel method.•The surfaces of the as produced spinel powders were coated with Ag via electroless coating.•The effect of Ag coating on the electrochemical properties is evaluated.

In this study, spinel lithium titanates, Li4Ti5O12, have been synthesized by a simple sol–gel method. Surfaces of as-synthesized Li4Ti5O12 powders were then coated with silver. Electrochemical results exhibit that Ag/Li4Ti5O12 has a highest lithium storage capacity of 175 mAh g− 1 and Li4Ti5O12 displays the lowest initial charge capacity of 170 mAh g−1 . The synthesized Ag/Li4Ti5O12 composite electrode also showed the significantly improved high-rate capability and stability, which delivered initial discharge capacity of 170, 147, 118, 99, 88, 77, 66, 56, 46 and 34 mAh g−1  at the charge/discharge current density of 1, 2, 4, 8, 10, 20, 30, 40, 60 and 80 C, respectively. The sol–gel and electroless deposition processes may present a facile pathway for large-scale preparation of Ag/Li4Ti5O12 as high-performance anode materials for lithium-ion batteries.