Growth of Lithium Lanthanum Titanate Nanosheets and Their Application in Lithium-Ion Batteries

In this work, lithium-doped lanthanum titanate (LLTO) nanosheets have been prepared by a facile hydrothermal approach. It is found that with the incorporation of lithium ions, the morphology of the product transfers from rectangular nanosheets to irregular nanosheets along with a transition from La₂Ti₂O₇ to Li_0.5La_0.5TiO₃. The as-prepared LLTO nanosheets are used to enhance electrochemical performance of the LiCo_1/3Ni_1/3Mn_1/3O₂ (CNM) electrode by forming a higher lithium-ion conductive network. The LiCo_1/3Ni_1/3Mn_1/3O₂–Li_0.5La_0.5TiO₃ (CNM-LLTO) electrode shows better a lithium diffusion coefficient of 1.5 × 10^–15 cm² s^–1, resulting from higher lithium-ion conductivity of LLTO and shorter lithium diffusion path, compared with the lithium diffusion coefficient of CNM electrode (5.44 × 10^–16 cm² s^–1). Superior reversibility and stability are also found in the CNM-LLTO electrode, which retains a capacity at 198 mAh/g after 100 cycles at a rate of 0.1 C. Therefore, it can be confirmed that the existence of LLTO nanosheets can act as bridges to facilitate the lithium-ion diffusion between the active materials and electrolytes