Li₂TiSiO₅ Glass Ceramic as Anode Materials for High-Performance Lithium-Ion Batteries

We report a cost-effective way to synthesize the lithium silicate nano-glass ceramics for high-performance Li-ion batteries (LIBs). By proper heat treatment on the precursor glass, we succeeded in preparing Li₂TiSiO₅ glass ceramics, based on which the anode was fabricated. This type of anode exhibits superior electrochemical performances, that is, a specific capacity of about 180 mA h g⁻¹ until 5000 cycles at 5 A g⁻¹. This high cycling stability is attributed to the synergistic effect of both the open network in the glass matrix and the crack-type channels induced by Li₂TiSiO₅ nanocrystals in the glass matrix. The open network could withstand the volume change and the stress caused by Li⁺ insertion/extraction, while the nanocrystals could provide efficient pathways for fast ion delivery and electron transport. The present work has a promising potential to develop high-performance electrode materials for LIBs.