Li4Ti5O12 hollow mesoporous microspheres assembled from nanoparticles for high rate lithium-ion battery anodesElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c5ra03158c

• Main Authors: Cao, Liyun, Hui, Yani, Ouyang, Haibo, Huang, Jianfeng, Xu, Zhanwei, Li, Jiayin, Zhang, Wanzhuo, Chai, Simin, Guo, Shouwu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 20.04.2015
• ISSN: 2046-2069
• DOI: 10.1039/c5ra03158c

Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 hollow mesoporous microspheres (HMMs) assembled from nanoparticles were successfully synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method and subsequent calcination. They exhibit superior rate capabilities with reversible capacities of 176, 125 and 86 mA h g −1 after 10 cycles at 0.1 C, 20 C and 40 C (7000 mA g −1 ), respectively. The Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 HMMs also possess outstanding cycle performance with only 3% capacity degradation at 10 C after 500 cycles, which is equivalent to a fade of merely 0.006% per cycle. The comparison with other studies shows that the Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 HMMs possess more promising reversible capacity and rate capability among the values reported for Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 . These excellent electrochemical properties may be attributed to the unique HMM structures. A hydrothermal strategy was used to fabricate Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 hollow mesoporous microspheres assembled by thousands of nanoparticles. Much enhanced electrical properties were obtained during the charge/discharge tests.