Spherical Li(4)Ti(5)O(12)/NiO Composite With Enhanced Capacity and Rate Performance as Anode Material for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Compositing with metal oxides is proved to be an efficient strategy to improve electrochemical performance of anode material Li(4)Ti(5)O(12) for lithium-ion batteries. Herein, spherical Li(4)Ti(5)O(12)/NiO composite powders have been successfully prepared via a spray drying method. X-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy results demonstrate that crystal structure of the powders is spinel. Scanning electron microscopy results show that NiO uniformly distributes throughout Li(4)Ti(5)O(12) matrix. It is found that compositing with NiO increases both discharge platform capacity and rate stability of Li(4)Ti(5)O(12). The as-prepared Li(4)Ti(5)O(12)/NiO (5%) exhibits a high initial discharge capacity of 381.3 mAh g(−1) at 0.1 C, and a discharge capacity of 194.7 mAh g(−1) at an ultrahigh rate of 20 C.