Preparation of Li4Ti5O12 nanoparticles by a simple sonochemical method

Homogeneous Li4Ti5O12 nanoparticles were prepared: First, LiOH was coated onto TiO2 nanoparticles via a sonochemical method, operated at 20 kHz and 220 W for 20 min. These particles have about 2–5 nm coating depth of LiOH on the TiO2 nanoparticle surface. Second, the resulting nanoparticles were thermally treated at 500 °C for 1 h, resulting in the formation of Li4Ti5O12 (LTO) nanoparticles. These LTO nanoparticles had an average grain size of about 30–40 nm with excellent phase purity in good stoichiometric ratios of Li4Ti5O12. These nanoparticles with a uniform size distribution were characterized by infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and high resolution-transmission electron microscopy analyses.