Enhanced cycling stability of microsized LiCoO2 cathode by Li4Ti5O12 coating for lithium ion battery

The effect of Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ (LTO) coating amount on the electrochemical cycling behavior of the LiCoO₂ cathode was investigated at the high upper voltage limit of 4.5 V. Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ (≤5 wt.%) is not incorporated into the host structure and leads to formation of uniform coating. The cycling performance of LiCoO₂ cathode is related with the amount of Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ coating. The initial capacity of the LTO-coated LiCoO₂ decreased with increasing Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ coating amount but showed enhanced cycling properties, compared to those of pristine material. The 3 wt.% LTO-coated LiCoO₂ has the best electrochemical performance, showing capacity retention of 97.3% between 2.5 V and 4.3 V and 85.1% between 2.5 V and 4.5 V after 40 cycles. The coulomb efficiency shows that the surface coating of Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ is beneficial to the reversible intercalation/de-intercalation of Li⁺. LTO-coated LiCoO₂ provides good prospects for practical application of lithium secondary batteries free from safety issues.     

CTAB-assisted sol-gel synthesis of Li4Ti5O12 and its performance as anode material for Li-ion batteries

A simple CTAB-assisted sol-gel technique for synthesizing nano-sized Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ with promising electrochemical performance as anode material for lithium ion battery is reported. The structural and morphological properties are investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. The electrochemical performance of both samples (with and without CTAB) calcined at 800 °C is evaluated using Swagelok™ cells by galvanostatic charge/discharge cycling at room temperature. The XRD pattern for sample prepared in presence of CTAB and calcined at 800 °C shows high-purity cubic-spinel Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ phase (JCPDS # 26-1198). Nanosized-Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ calcined at 800 °C in presence of CTAB exhibits promising cycling performance with initial discharge capacity of 174 mAh g⁻¹ (∼100% of theoretical capacity) and sustains a capacity value of 164 mAh g⁻¹ beyond 30 cycles. By contrast, the sample prepared in absence of CTAB under identical reaction conditions exhibits initial discharge capacity of 140 mAh g⁻¹ (80% of theoretical capacity) that fades to 110 mAh g⁻¹ after 30 cycles.     

Synthesis of FePO4 cathode material for lithium ion batteries by a sonochemical method

Hydrated amorphous FePO₄ was synthesized by a sonochemical reaction method, in which a solution of (NH₄)₂HPO₄ and FeSO₄·7H₂O was irradiated by an ultrasonic wave. From this material, two kinds of cathode materials were easily prepared: (1) an amorphous sample prepared by heating at 350 °C and (2) a crystalline sample prepared by heating at 700 °C. Both samples consisted of homogeneous sub-micron particles. The amorphous sample of FePO₄ exhibited high discharge capacities with more than 100 mAh g⁻¹ in the range of 3.9-2.0 V versus Li/Li⁺ at a current rate of 0.2 C. The sonochemical synthesis proposed herein has the following advantages: no use of oxidation agents for production of trivalent iron ions, reduction in reaction time, control of particle size, and enlargement in surface area for the preparation of the cathode material.     

新型锂离子电池正极材料LiFePO4

橄榄石结构的LiFePO4工作电压3.4V,理论容量170mAh/g,充放电结构稳定,循环性能好,成本低,安全无毒,成为当前研究的热点.本文在介绍该材料的结构与性能的关系、充放电机理基础上,综述了近年来对该材料的研究进展,并提出了进一步发展的方向.     

Large-scale synthesis of single-crystalline platelet Bi3.25La0.75Ti3O12

The single-crystalline Bi_3.25La_0.75Ti₃O₁₂ micro-platelets were directly synthesized in the NaCl-KCl medium at the relative low temperature by means of molten salt synthesis method (MSS). The as-prepared Bi_3.25La_0.75Ti₃O₁₂ solid solution exhibits the monoclinic symmetry (P1a1) which was revealed by the X-ray and electron diffractions. In the NaCl-KCl medium, the square platelet of single-crystal Bi_3.25La_0.75Ti₃O₁₂ grew along its crystal habit plane (001), and its thickness increased layer by layer. The growth mechanism could be that it was an edge nucleation, grew in amorphous as early stage, and then preferentially crystallized along (001) plane.     

Synthesis and Li ion conductivity of Li2O-Nb2O5-P2O5 glasses and glass-ceramics

Glasses with the compositions of xLi₂O-(70 − x)Nb₂O₅-30P₂O₅, x = 30-60, and their glass-ceramics are synthesized using a conventional melt-quenching method and heat treatments in an electric furnace, and Li⁺ ion conductivities of glasses and glass-ceramics are examined to clarify whether the glasses and glass-ceramics prepared have a potential as Li⁺ conductive electrolytes or not. The electrical conductivity (σ) of the glasses increases monotonously with increasing Li₂O content, and the glass of 60Li₂O-10Nb₂O₅-30P₂O₅ shows the value of σ = 2.35 × 10⁻⁶ S/cm at room temperature and the activation energy (E_a) of 0.48 eV for Li⁺ ion mobility in the temperature range of 25-200 °C. It is found that two kinds of the crystalline phases of Li₃PO₄ and NbPO₅ are formed in the crystallization of the glasses and the crystallization results in the decrease in Li⁺ ion conductivity in all samples, indicating that any high Li⁺ ion conducting crystalline phases have not been formed in the present glasses. 60Li₂O-10Nb₂O₅-30P₂O₅ glass shows a bulk nanocrystallization (Li₃PO₄ nanocrystals with a diameter of ∼70 nm) and the glass-ceramic obtained by a heat treatment at 544 °C for 3 h in air exhibits the values of σ = 1.23 × 10⁻⁷ S/cm at room temperature and E_a = 0.49 eV.     

竹基碳纤维/MoS2锂离子电池负极材料

随着电子产品、电动汽车以及智能电网的快速发展,不仅需要锂离子电池(LIBs)具有优异的储锂性能,而且要求电极材料成本低廉、资源丰富和绿色环保。基于碳负极材料的优点,将废弃的一次性竹筷,在碱性溶液中经过可控的热处理,利用竹子中丰富的天然纤维素,从而获得尺寸均匀的碳纤维(CFs)材料。相比于石墨电极,竹基CFs作为LIBs的负极材料时表现出优异的电化学性能。为进一步提高其储锂性能,以CFs为骨架,通过水热法在其表面制备了一层二硫化钼(MoS₂)纳米花,形成核壳结构的CFs/MoS₂复合电极材料。电化学测试结果表明,CFs电极在200 mA/g的电流密度下循环500次,放电比容量仍有381.1 mA·h/g;CFs/MoS₂复合材料在1 000 mA/g的大电流密度下经过1 000次循环,仍保持有843 mA·h/g的放电比容量。     

Phenol-formaldehyde resin-assisted synthesis of pure porous Li4Ti5O12 for rate capability improvement

Porous Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ has been synthesized via a simple template method using phenol-formaldehyde resin as template. SEM, TEM, XRD, nitrogen adsorption, galvanostatic charge-discharge, and ac impedance tests are used to characterize the appearance, structure, and electrochemical performance of the samples. The micrometer-scale crystal particles exhibit rough surface, large specific surface area, porous structure, and superior electrochemical performance. The initial discharge specific capacity is 167 mAh g⁻¹ under 0.2 C discharge rate, when the rate increases to 2.0 C, the capacity still retains to 112 mAh g⁻¹, exhibiting excellent rate capability.     

Subsolidus phase equilibria and the Li5Nd4FeO10 phase in the Li2O-Nd2O3-Fe2O3 system

A survey of the subsolidus phase equilibria in the system Li₂O-Nd₂O₃-Fe₂O₃ was made at subsolidus temperatures in the range 1000-1050 °C. A ternary phase was identified. The phase is centered on Li₅Nd₄FeO₁₀, with a cubic lattice a = 11.9494 Å. The compound melts incongruently at 1105 °C. The magnetic susceptibility was measured in the temperature range 4-300 K. The compound is paramagnetic in the temperature range 150-300 K and follows the Curie-Weiss law. At about T_N = 10 K, a long-range magnetic ordering is observed.     

Large-scale synthesis of Li1.2V3O8 as a cathode material for lithium secondary battery via a soft chemistry route

Layered Li_1.2V₃O₈ has been efficiently prepared via a sol-gel method. XRD and particle size analysis indicate that the final product with monoclinic structure consists of homogeneously distributed particles whose sizes are in a very narrow range. There are two different water molecules in the compound according to TGA and DTA. The structural water works as a pillar in the structure and is lost at higher temperature than the combined water. The as-prepared material was also compared with the one synthesized from the conventional solid-state method in terms of their morphology, electrochemistry capacity and electrodynamic characteristics. As a result, the Li_1.2V₃O₈ obtained at 300 °C for 10 h has excellent electrochemical properties. A high-first discharge capacity of 286.4 mAh/g was observed at a current rate of C/5 between 1.7 and 3.8 V and the structure of Li_1.2V₃O₈ remains stable in the subsequent cycles. EIS calculation suggests a better diffusion path for lithium ions in as-prepared material than in the solid-state compound.     

A PEG assisted sol-gel synthesis of LiFePO4 as cathodic material for lithium ion cells

In order to obtain fine-particle LiFePO₄ with excellent electrochemical performance, LiFePO₄/C powders were synthesized by a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) assisted sol-gel method. All samples were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, and their electrochemical properties were investigated by cycle voltammograms and charge-discharge tests. The sample, synthesized with the n_PEG/n_LFP = 1:1 under sintering temperature of 600 °C, possesses the global morphology and particle size of about 100 nm. This sample delivers the first discharge capacity of 162 mAh g⁻¹, i.e. 95.3% of the theoretical capacity, at the 15 mA g⁻¹ discharge current between 2.5 and 4.0 V (versus Li/Li⁺). The sample also displays a robust rate capability and stable cycle-life. The improved electrochemical performance originates mainly from the fine particle of nanometric dimension, regular global morphology and uniform dispersing in the product as well as the increased electronic conductivity by carbon coating.     

Li3SbO4: A new high rate anode material for lithium-ion batteries

Electrochemical properties of Li₃SbO₄ have been investigated as an anode in lithium-ion coin cells. X-ray powder diffraction of the material, synthesized by the conventional solid state technique with thermal treatment at 800 °C in air, confirmed a monoclinic structure with lattice parameters of a = 5.159 Å, b = 6.048 Å, c = 5.144 Å and β = 109°. Electrochemical measurements in 2032 type coin cells show that Li insertion and extraction in this material take place at 0.72 and 1.05 V vs Li/Li⁺ respectively. Although the material shows a low average reversible capacity of 81 mAhg⁻¹ at a current density of 0.05 mAcm⁻² (C/5), an excellent rate performance with nearly 100% Coulombic efficiency has been observed. Continuous cycling up to 200 cycles at current densities of 0.05, 4.0 and 8.0 mAcm⁻² shows that by increasing the current rate from C/5 to 43 C i.e. 215 times, the average reversible capacity decreases only 10%. Thus, the material might be very useful for applications requiring high rate of charge and discharge.     

New substitutions and novel derivatives of the Aurivillius phases, Bi5TiNbWO15 and Bi4Ti3O12

We investigated isomorphous substitution of several metal atoms in the Aurivillius structures, Bi₅TiNbWO₁₅ and Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂, in an effort to understand structure-property correlations. Our investigations have led to the synthesis of new derivatives, Bi₄LnTiMWO₁₅ (Ln = La, Pr; M = Nb, Ta), as well as Bi₄PbNb₂WO₁₅ and Bi₃LaPbNb₂WO₁₅, that largely retain the Aurivillius (n = 1) + (n = 2) intergrowth structure of the parent oxide Bi₅TiNbWO₁₅, but characteristically tend toward a centrosymmetric/tetragonal structure for the Ln-substituted derivatives. On the other hand, coupled substitution, 2Ti^IV → M^V + Fe^III in Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂, yields new Aurivillius phases, Bi₄Ti_3−2xNb_xFe_xO₁₂ (x = 0.25, 0.50) and Bi₄Ti_3−2xTa_xFe_xO₁₂ (x = 0.25) that retain the orthorhombic noncentrosymmetric structure of the parent Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂. Two new members of this family, Bi₂Sr₂Nb₂RuO₁₂ and Bi₂SrNaNb₂RuO₁₂ that are analogous to Bi₂Sr₂Nb₂TiO₁₂, possessing tetragonal (I4/mmm) Aurivillius structure have also been synthesized.     

Structure study of Bi4Ti3O12 produced via mechanochemically assisted synthesis

Nanosized bismuth titanate was prepared via high-energy ball milling process through mechanically assisted synthesis directly from their oxide mixture of Bi₂O₃ and TiO₂. Only Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ phase was formed after 3 h of milling time. The excess of 3 wt% Bi₂O₃ added in the initial mixture before milling does not improve significantly the formation of Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ phase comparing to stoichiometric mixture. The formed phase was amorphized independently of the milling time. The Rietveld analysis was adopted to determine the crystal structure symmetry, amount of amorphous phase, crystallite size and microstrains. With increasing the milling time from 3 to 12 h, the particle size of formed Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ did not reduced significantly. That was confirmed by SEM and TEM analysis. The particle size was less than 20 nm and show strong tendency to agglomeration. The electron diffraction pattern indicates that Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ crystalline powder is embedded in an amorphous phase of bismuth titanate. Phase composition and atom ratio in BIT ceramics were determined by X-ray diffraction and EDS analysis.     

球形钛酸锂的制备工艺对其电化学性能的影响

以钛酸丁酯和LiOH·H_2O为原料,以十六烷基三甲基溴化铵为表面活性剂,利用水热法合成球形尖晶石结构钛酸锂,探讨制备工艺对球形钛酸锂结构的影响,并对合成球形钛酸锂的电化学性能进行表征。结果表明:n(LiOH·H_2O)∶n(钛酸丁酯)=0.9∶1,170℃水热反应36h,并在600℃热处理2h条件下合成的Li_4Ti_5O_(12)具有较好的球形度和结晶度,其在0.1C放电倍率下的首次可逆容量为201 mAh·g~(-1),循环20次后可逆容量仍达198mAh·g~(-1);当放电倍率达50C时,其首次可逆容量仍达149mAh·g~(-1),经20次循环后容量保持率高达98.9%,表现出良好的循环性能和倍率特性。     

Polycrystalline SnO2 nanowires coated with amorphous carbon nanotube as anode material for lithium ion batteries

One-dimensional (1D) SnO₂ nanowires, coated by in situ formed amorphous carbon nanotubes (a-CNTs) with a mean diameter of ca. 60 nm, were synthesized by annealing the anodic alumina oxide (AAO) filled with a sol of SnO₂. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns revealed that the prepared SnO₂ nanowires exist in polycrystalline rutile structure. The coating of carbon nanotubes has some defects on the wall after the internal SnO₂ nanoparticles were removed. The 1D SnO₂ nanowires present a reversible capacity of 441 mAh/g and an excellent cycling performance as an anode material for lithium ion batteries. This suggests that 1D nanostructured materials have great promise for practical application.     

Locating the normal to relaxor phase boundary in Ba(Ti1−xHfx)O3 ceramics

In this article, we report our studies on the relaxor behavior of Ba(Ti_1−xHf_x)O₃ ceramics, made with close compositions between 0.20 ≤ x ≤ 0.30, to locate the hafnium concentration boundary for the normal to relaxor crossover. X-ray diffraction followed by Rietveld refinement shows the occurrence of single-phase cubic structure for the synthesized Ba(Ti_1−xHf_x)O₃ ceramics. Temperature and frequency dependence of the real (?′) and imaginary (?″) parts of the dielectric permittivity has been studied in the temperature range of 90-350 K at frequencies of 0.1, 1, 10, and 100 kHz. A diffuse phase transition accompanying frequency dispersion is observed in the permittivity versus temperature plots revealing the occurrence of relaxor ferroelectric behavior. The T_m verses Hf concentration plot shows a discontinuous jump and change in the slope at x = 0.23. Quantitative characterization based on phenomenological models has also been presented. The plausible mechanism of the relaxor behavior has been discussed. Substitution of Hf⁴⁺ for Ti⁴⁺ in BaTiO₃ reduces the long-range polar ordering yielding a diffuse ferroelectric phase transition.     

Conductive polyaniline capped Fe2O3 composite anode for high rate lithium ion batteries

A composite of Fe₂O₃ capped by conductive polyaniline (PANI) was synthesized by a facile two-step method through combining homogeneous Fe₂O₃ suspension prepared by a hydrothermal method and in-situ polymerization of aniline. As anode material for lithium ion batteries, the Fe₂O₃/PANI composite manifests very large discharge capacities of 1635 mAh g⁻¹, 1480 mAh g⁻¹ at large currents of 1.0 and 2.0 A g⁻¹ (1C and 2C), respectively, as well as good cycling performance and rate capacity. The enhancement of electrochemical performance is attributed to the improved electrical conductivity and effective ion transportation of the composite electrode, in that, PANI keeps the Fe₂O₃ nanorods uniformly connected and offers conductive contact between the electrolyte and the active electrode materials.     

Structure and lithium ion conductivity of garnet-like Li5La3Sb2O12 and Li6SrLa2Sb2O12

Oxides with the nominal chemical compositions Li₅La₃Sb₂O₁₂ and Li₆SrLa₂Sb₂O₁₂ were prepared by solid-state reaction. The structures were refined by the Rietveld method using powder X-ray diffraction data. The synthesis of Li₅La₃Sb₂O₁₂ resulted in the well known garnet-related structure plus 5 wt.% of La₂LiSbO₆ in the bulk. In contrast to that, Li₆SrLa₂Sb₂O₁₂ could be synthesised in single garnet-related type phase. Lithium ion conductivities of Li₅La₃Sb₂O₁₂ and Li₆SrLa₂Sb₂O₁₂ were studied by the ac impedance method. The grain-boundary contribution to the total (bulk + grain-boundary) resistance is very small and about 5 and 3% for Li₅La₃Sb₂O₁₂ and Li₆SrLa₂Sb₂O₁₂, respectively, at 24 °C and decreases further with increase in temperature. Among the investigated compounds, Li₅La₃Sb₂O₁₂ exhibits the highest total (bulk + grain-boundary) and bulk ionic conductivity of 7.8 × 10⁻⁶ and 8.2 × 10⁻⁶ S cm⁻¹, respectively, at 24 °C. The structural data indicate that the coupled substitution Li + Sr ⇒ La leads to a closure of the bottle neck like O-O distances of the shared edges of neighbouring Li octahedra and therefore reduces the mobility of Li ions in Li₆SrLa₂Sb₂O₁₂. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of the Li₆SrLa₂Sb₂O₁₂ compound revealed well crystallised large homogeneous grains (∼4.8 μm) and the grains were in good contact with the neighbouring grain, which leads to a smaller grain-boundary contribution to the total resistance.     

Effect of external magnetic field on the deposition of BaFe12O19

The contribution of an external magnetic field on the deposition of BaFe₁₂O₁₉ thin film was investigated. For this purpose, two (one with applied field and another without field) thin films of BaFe₁₂O₁₉ were deposited on the C-plane oriented sapphire (Al₂O₃) substrate employing pulsed laser deposition technique. Crystallographic orientation and texture were determined using an X-ray diffractometer. The magnetic parameters were deduced from a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). A spectrometer was used to study the optical properties of the films. The structural results reveal the film to be predominantly single phase with C-plane orientation in both the cases. The film deposited with field, however, has bigger grain size and more perfection in crystallinity. The magnetic parameters show that the film deposited with the field has more remanence magnetization and higher coercive field. The diffuse reflectance of the film deposited with field is much higher due to the increased grain size and roughness.