Porous micro/nano Li2CeO3 with baseball morphology as anode material for high power lithium ions batteries

Abstract In the present work, porous micro/nano lithium cerium oxide (Li 2 CeO 3 ) with baseball morphology was prepared by an in-situ template-sacrificial route involving the precipitation precursor and subsequent thermal annealing treatment. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) data showed that the baseball shape of the precursor was preserved after the calcinations. The as-prepared micrometer Li 2 CeO 3 (about 1 μm in diameter) was made up of 5 nm nanoparticles. This unique micro/nano composite structure possessed the advantages of both microstructure and nanostructure. Therefore, as anode of lithium ion batteries (LIBs), the as-synthesized Li 2 CeO 3 delivered high discharge capacity of 582.7 mAh g −1 after 100 cycles at 0.5 mA cm −2 . Even at high current density (5 mA cm −2 ), a discharge capacity of 371.8 mAh g −1 was achieved. This study demonstrated that Li 2 CeO 3 may be used for a new promising candidate as the anode material for high power LIBs.