Liquid metal modified Li4Ti5O12 with improved conductivity as novel anode material for lithium-ion batteries.

• The electrochemical property of Li 4 T 5 O 12 electrode can be improved by mixing liquid metal alloy. • The LM-LTO electrode exhibits superior rate and cycling performance. • LM is beneficial to the conductivity improvement of composite electrode. The spinel lithium titanate (Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 , LTO) has attracted special attention for its low cost, stable structure and little safety issue. However, LTO displays a low electronic conductivity, which seriously impedes its practical applications at remarkable rate capability. Herein, to improve the electrochemical properties of LTO, this research constructed a novel composite anode by mixing the GaSn liquid metal (LM) nanoparticles with LTO. The composite anode's phase structure and morphology were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The electrochemical data indicate that LM-LTO electrode delivers a better rate capability (52% retention from 10 mA/g to 500 mA/g) as well as long cyclic stability (76% retention after 1000 cycles at 200 mA/g). Therefore, this work opens a new avenue for fabricating better rate performance and safer lithium ions battery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]