Ball milling-assisted sol–gel route to Li4Ti5O12 and its electrochemical properties

Anode material Li4Ti5O12 was prepared by a ball milling-assisted sol–gel method. The as-prepared products were characterized by means of X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope (SEM), and electrochemical experiment. The results indicated that ball-milling and calcination temperature had significant effect on the formation of Li4Ti5O12. Phase-pure Li4Ti5O12 was obtained by sintering the ball-milled precursor at 800 °C for 10 h in air. The discharge capacity of phase-pure Li4Ti5O12 reached up to 143 mAh g−1 at a current density of 30 mA g−1, which was retained at 141 mAh g−1 even after 30 cycles.