A Facile Titanium Glycolate Precursor Route to Mesoporous Au/Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ Spheres for High-Rate Lithium-Ion Batteries

A facile, green strategy is explored to synthesize mesoporous Au/Li(4)Ti(5)O(12) spheres based on in situ conversion of titanium glycolate in LiOH aqueous solution. Compared with TiO(2) precursors, titanium glycolate possesses some strengths: (i) fast and easy preparation; (ii) direct reaction with LiOH without introduce of TiO(2) impurity. In the synthesis, the produced chemical waste is only the mixed solvent of acetone and ethylene glycol (EG). Furthermore, acetone and EG in chemical waste can be easily separated by distillation and reused in the next synthesis process due to the great difference between their boiling points. In particular, the as-prepared mesoporous Au/Li(4)Ti(5)O(12) spheres combines the advantages of large specific surface area (166 m(2)/g) and good electronic conduction enhanced by Au nanoparticles when used as an anode electrode material. The electrochemical tests show that the mesoporous Au/Li(4)Ti(5)O(12) spheres display excellent high rate capability and cycling performance.