Electrochemical performance of nanocrystalline Li₂CoTiO₄cathode materials for lithium ion batteries

Cation disordered Li₂CoTiO₄titanate with 3D lithium ion channels could be a promising new cathode material for lithium ion batteries due to its high theoretical capacity. Herein the Li₂CoTiO₄materials with tunable nanostructures were synthesized by a sol-gel method and subsequent heat treatment at different temperatures. The microstructure and electrochemical properties of the nanocrystalline Li₂CoTiO₄materials have been systematically investigated. The Li₂CoTiO₄material synthesized at lower temperature possessed smaller particle size and grain size, and allowed a higher reversible extraction of lithium ions per formula unit. Furthermore, the small particle size enabled insertion of lithium along short diffusion paths, and thus an increase of the lithium ion diffusion coefficient.