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Optimizing the cycling life and high-rate performance of Li2ZnTi3O8 by forming thin uniform carbon coating derived from citric acid

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Abstract

The low electronic conductivity and moderate lithium-ion transfer capability of Li2ZnTi3O8 restrict its application to some degree. In this work, in light of the high affinity of TiO2 surface with carboxylic acids, citric acid was adopted as a carbon source to form uniform carbon coating layer on LZTO particles. When the mixture of LZTO and citric acid with a mass ratio of 1:0.2 was roasted at 700 °C for 5 h, the product demonstrated wonderful rate performance (revealing capacities of 232.6, 202.8, 184.8, 165.6 and 106.7 mAh g−1 at 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8 and 1.6 A g−1, respectively) as well as outstanding long-term cycling stability (maintaining a capacity of 186.9 mAh g−1 for 1000 cycles at 0.5 A g−1). Combining structure and composition characterizations with electrochemical impedance spectra analysis, the amorphous carbon derived from citric acid was uniformly coated on the LZTO particles by virtue of the intense interaction between LZTO and carboxyl groups. Better particle dispersion and enhanced pseudocapacitive contribution were obtained resulted from the carbon coating, remarkably ameliorating the electronic and ionic conductivities of LZTO and alleviating polarization, thus beneficial to optimizing the electrochemical behavior of LZTO.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Project ZR2019MEM029 of Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation, PR China, and National Natural Science Foundation of China (51902189).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory for Liquid-Solid Structural Evolution and Processing of Materials, Ministry of Education, Shandong University, Jinan, 250061, People’s Republic of China

    Huan Yang, Yong-Xin Qi, Ning Lun & Yu-Jun Bai

  2. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266590, People’s Republic of China

    Hui-Ling Zhu

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  1. Huan Yang
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Correspondence to Ning Lun or Yu-Jun Bai.

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Yang, H., Zhu, HL., Qi, YX. et al. Optimizing the cycling life and high-rate performance of Li2ZnTi3O8 by forming thin uniform carbon coating derived from citric acid. J Mater Sci 55, 15538–15550 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-020-04980-1

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