Advanced LiTi2(PO4)3/C anode by incorporation of carbon nanotubes for aqueous lithium-ion batteries

Inferior rate capability is a big challenge for LiTi 2 (PO 4 ) 3 anode for aqueous lithium-ion batteries. Herein, to address such issue, we synthesized a high-performance LiTi 2 (PO 4 ) 3 /carbon/carbon nanotube (LTP/C/CNT) composite by virtue of high-quality carbon coating and incorporation of good conductive network. The as-prepared LTP/C/CNT composite exhibits excellent rate performance with discharge capacity of 80.1 and 59.1 mAh g −1 at 10 C and 20 C (based on the mass of anode, 1 C = 150 mA g −1 ), much larger than that of the LTP/C composite (53.4 mAh g −1 at 10 C, and 31.7 mAh g −1 at 20 C). LTP/C/CNT also demonstrates outstanding cycling stability with capacity retention of 83.3 % after 1000 cycles at 5 C, superior to LTP/C without incorporation of CNTs (60.1 %). As verified, the excellent electrochemical performance of the LTP/C/CNT composite is attributed to the enhanced electrical conductivity, rapid charge transfer, and Li-ion diffusion because of the incorporation of CNTs.