Effects of post-treatments on the electrochemical properties of solid-state reacted Li sub(4)Ti sub(5)O sub(12)-high energy milling and annealing

• Published in: Journal of electroceramics Vol. 28; no. 2-3; pp. 178 - 184
• Main Authors: Shin, Jin-Wook, Ryu, Ji Heon, Jeong, Joayoung, Yoon, Dang-Hyok
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.05.2012
• Subjects: Annealing; Crystallinity; Deterioration; Electrodes; Mechanical alloying; Nanocomposites; Nanostructure; Titanium dioxide
• ISSN: 1385-3449; 1573-8663
• DOI: 10.1007/s10832-012-9703-x

This study is designed and performed to verify whether nano-sized Li sub(4)Ti sub(5)O sub(12) particles can be acquired by simple high energy milling from the economic solid-state reacted coarse powder for high power lithium ion battery applications. For this, Li sub(4)Ti sub(5)O sub(12) is synthesized by heat treatment at 800 and 850 degree C for 3 h using Li sub(2)CO sub(3) and TiO sub(2), followed by high energy milling. Even though a comparable particle size to that of expensive wet chemical methods, or even a smaller particle size of 25 nm, can be acquired by 5 h of milling, the electrochemical properties of the particles are found to be deteriorated due to the decrease in Li sub(4)Ti sub(5)O sub(12) crystallinity associated with the milling. On the other hand, a subsequent annealing at 750 degree C for the milled powder is shown to recover both the capacity and rate capability of the anode electrode owing to the increased crystallinity, indicating the importance of particle crystallinity besides a fine particle size for the enhanced electrochemical properties for high power applications.