Ti 5Ϫy O 12 (y ϭ 0.10, 0.15, 0.25͒ were synthesized via solid-state reaction using TiO 2 -rutile, Li 2 CO 3 , and Al 2 O 3 as starting reagents. The charge-discharge cycling of the cells showed that the electrochemical performance of Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 prepared from rutile-type TiO 2 by our laboratory was as good as that produced by anatase-type TiO 2 . However, Al 3ϩ doped Li 4 Al y Ti 5Ϫy O 12 (y ϭ 0.10, 0.15) exhibited a much better electrochemical performance in comparison with undoped Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 . Among the three samples of Li 4 Al y Ti 5Ϫy O 12 (y ϭ 0, 0.10, 0.15), Li 4 Al 0.15 Ti 4.85 O 12 exhibited the largest reversible capacity and the highest coulombic efficiency. The discharge capacity values in the first and second cyclings were 195.6 and 173.6 mAh/g, respectively. The value remained 166.9 mAh/g after 30 cycles with a capacity loss of 3.86% compared to the second cycle, and the coulombic efficiency was 99.2% at the 30th cycle.Electrodes containing Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 have good Li-ion intercalation and deintercalation reversibility and exhibit no structural change ͑zero-strain insertion material͒ during charge-discharge cycling. This active material has a main discharge platform close to 1.55 V vs. Li ϩ /Li, which is very promising for use in electrodes in numerous battery applications. 1 So far, the spinel-type Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 has mainly been prepared by a solid-state reaction from TiO 2 and Li 2 CO 3 or LiOH. The reaction typically occurs within 12-24 h at 800-1000°C. [2][3][4] Titanium dioxide adopts eight different crystallographic structures. Relevant data on Li ϩ insertion exist only for anatase and rutile. Anatase is generally considered to be the most active Li ϩ insertion host; the insertion into rutile-type TiO 2 (r-TiO 2 ) is usually reported to be negligible. Thus, anatase-type TiO 2 (a-TiO 2 ) has been used in most studies as the starting material for Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 . 5 Because r-TiO 2 is a natural material, it has low cost and wide source, and a-TiO 2 changes to r-TiO 2 at high temperatures. In this paper, we use r-TiO 2 as the starting material and study its performance.Although Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 is an insulator, doping the structure with small amounts of Mg 2ϩ has been reported to improve the electronic conductivity of the spinel by many orders of magnitude. 6 Other doping ions such as Cr 3ϩ , V 3ϩ , Mn 2ϩ , Ba 2ϩ , and Sr 2ϩ have also been studied to improve the capacity and cycling property, but no satisfactory results have been obtained. 7-10 To improve the electrochemical performance of Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 , Al 3ϩ was chosen as an alternative dopant for its extreme stability in an octahedral environment and for its light weight. 11 In this paper, we report the results obtained for Li 4 Al y Ti 5Ϫy O 12 with various Al 3ϩ doping contents. The materials have been characterized by X-ray diffraction ͑XRD͒ and scanning electron microscopy ͑SEM͒ observations. The electrochemical cycling performance of Li 4 Al y Ti 5Ϫy O 12 (y ϭ 0, 0.10, 0.15, 0.25) in lithium cells was also studied.
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