Influence of high-energy ball milling of precursor on the morphology and electrochemical performance of Li₄Ti₅O₁₂-ball-milling time

High-energy ball milling (HEBM) was applied for the synthesis of spinel Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ and the influence of milling time was investigated systematically. With the increase of ball-milling time, the average particle size of the as-synthesized Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ powder decreased from ~ 900 nm to ~ 150 nm, while the particle morphology changed little. At the same time, the main particle size distribution peak split up into two parts, which were narrowed and moved to a smaller range. Electrochemical testing results showed that the Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ with precursor milled for 60 min at 500 rpm rotational speed showed a favorable discharge capacity of ~ 146.9 mAh/g with corresponding coulombic efficiency of 99.9% at 1 C rate. The rate performance was improved with the increase of milling time because of the smaller particle size of the resulted Li₄Ti₅O₁₂. The voltage change between oxidation peak and reduction peak of Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ also became wider with milling time increasing.