High electrochemical performance of Li₄Ti₅O₁₂/C synthesized by ball milling and direct flaming of acetylene gas as anode for lithium-ion battery

Li₄Ti₅O₁₂/C has been successfully synthesized by a solid-state reaction method of Li₂CO₃ and TiO₂ followed by direct flaming of acetylene gas. Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ with 2-h milling time is indexed as single-phase crystal structure of Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ (JCPDS 04-0477). The SEM results show particle sizes between 0.192 and 0.360 μm with a spherical shape, but there is agglomeration due to high temperature when the direct flaming of acetylene gas process is applied. The desired carbon content by direct flaming of acetylene gas is still very low at 0.6% for 10 min and 0.9% for 20 min. Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ with 10 min of direct flaming of acetylene gas has the highest specific discharge capacity of 210.61 mAh/g. This is attributed to the pure single phase and the higher conductivity of the sample. This result shows that Li₄Ti₅O₁₂/C synthesized by ball milling and direct flaming of acetylene gas could be a good candidate as anode for lithium-ion battery.