Spinel
Li4Ti5O12 is a well-known
two-phase anode material, which can deliver a large specific capacity
over a wide voltage window, and the kinetics of the two-phase boundary
is very important to the electrochemical properties. In this work,
a dense Li4Ti5O12 single-particle
microelectrode is prepared by the transient electric-arc heating,
and its electrochemical properties are measured over a wide voltage
window in Li-ion batteries, which delivers an ultralow-potential discharge
plateau. According to electrochemical, in situ electrochemical impedance
spectroscopy, Raman, and optical results, an unsymmetrical core–shell
model is proposed as discharging through the α/γ two-phase
transition and charging through the α/β two-phase transition,
in which the Li-ion insertion into the two-phase interface is switched
off for the β phase at a low potential and switched on for the
γ phase at an ultralow potential. Therefore, this study provides
new insights into the electrochemical behaviors of spinel Li4Ti5O12 and sheds light on some other two-phase
materials, such as olivine LiFePO4 and spinel LiCrTiO4.