Zinc Oxide Nanoparticle and its characterization in the LTO/ZnO composite for lithium-ion battery anode

Abstract One of the most popular active materials that are being used in lithium-ion batteries is lithium titanate/Li4Ti5O12 (LTO), as it exhibits zero strain properties as well as high resistance to volume change. Its disadvantages are low capacity and low electrical conductivity. In this experiment, the addition of zinc oxide nanoparticles into LTO as composite is aimed at increasing the capacity of LTO. LTO was synthesized from LiOH and anatase TiO2 using the solid-state method. The composite powders were prepared with 5, 8, and 11 wt.% composition of ZnO-NP. XRD and SEM were used to investigate the composition and microstructure of LTO/ZnO-NP composites. The electrochemical properties of the LTO/ZnO-NP electrode studied by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and charge-discharge. ZnO nanoparticles were uniformly distributed in LTO. The XRD showed a rutile TiO2 and dilithium titanate as a minor phase, while SEM showed particle distribution of LTO/ZnO-NP. LTO/ZnO-NP-11 exhibits excellent cycling performance and high capacity when used as anode with a specific capacity of 166.96 mAh/g at 0.1C, which is better than LTO pure.