Simple sol-gel method synthesis of 3-dimension Li₄Ti₅O₁₂-TiO₂nanostructures using butterfly wings as biotemplates for high rate performance lithium-ion batteries

A simple sol-gel method with butterfly as a biotemplate to prepare Li₄Ti₅O₁₂-TiO₂(LTO-TiO₂) nanostructures is presented in this study. Results show that the LTO-TiO₂has a periodical 3-dimension (3D) nanostructure, and delivers a high reversible capacity of 169 mAh/g and nearly 100% capacity retention over 80 charge-discharge cycles. Furthermore, LTO-TiO₂nanostructures exhibit an excellent rate capability of 56 mAh/g at 20 C. It is believed that the high performance of the anode materials can be attributed to the high surface area and perfect electron transport channels of 3D periodical nanostructures. We firmly believe that this work hold great promise for providing a perfect reference for artificially synthesized micro-nanostructure materials.