Screening Precursor
By Meierhofer, Florian; Li, Haipeng; Gockeln, Michael; Kun, Robert; Grieb, Tim; Rosenauer, Andreas; Fritsching, Udo; Kiefer, Johannes; Birkenstock, Johannes; M
Published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
2017
Abstract
The development and industrial application of advanced lithium based energy-storage materials are directly related to the innovative production techniques and the usage of inexpensive precursor materials. Flame spray pyrolysis (FSP) is a promising technique that overcomes the challenges in the production processes such as scalability, process control, material versatility, and cost. In the present study, phase pure anode material Li4Ti5O12 (LTO) was designed using FSP via extensive systematic screening of lithium and titanium precursors dissolved in five different organic solvents. The effect of precursor and solvent parameters such as chemical reactivity, boiling point, and combustion enthalpy on the particle formation either via gas-to-particle (evaporation/nucleation/growth) or via droplet-to-particle (precipitation/incomplete evaporation) is discussed. The presence of carboxylic acid in the precursor solution resulted in pure (>95 mass %) and homogeneous LTO nanoparticles of size 4