Materials Research Bulletin, Vol.70, 965-975, 2015
Novel lithium titanate-graphene hybrid containing two graphene conductive frameworks for lithium-ion battery with excellent electrochemical performance
The paper reported the synthesis of lithium titanate(LTO)-graphene hybrid containing two graphene conductive frameworks (G@LTO@G).Tetrabutyl titanate and graphene were dispersed in tertbutanol and heated to reflux state by microwave irradiation. Followed by adding lithium acetate to produce LTO precursor/graphene (p-LTO/G). The resulting p-LTO/G offers homogeneous morphology and ultra small size. All graphene sheets were buried in the spherical agglomerates composed of primitive particles through the second agglomeration. The p-LTO/G was calcined to LTO@graphene (LTO@G). To obtain G@LTO@G, the LTO@G was further hybridized with graphene. The as-prepared G@LTO@G shows well-defined three-dimensional structure and hierarchical porous distribution. Its unique architecture creates big tap density, fast electron transfer and rapid electrolyte transport. As a result, the G@LTO@G provides high specific capacity (175.2 mA h g(-1) and 293.5 mA cm(-3)), outstanding rate capability (155.7 inAh g(-1) at 10C) and intriguing cycling stability (97.2% capacity retention at 5C after 1000 cycles). (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.