Controllable synthesis of spinel lithium nickel manganese oxide cathode material with enhanced electrochemical performances through a modified oxalate co-precipitation method

A spinel lithium nickel manganese oxide (LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4) cathode material is synthesized with a modified oxalate co-precipitation method by controlling pH value of the precursor solution and introducing excessive Li source in the precursor. All the samples synthesized through this method are of Fd3m phase with a small amount of P4332 phase. It is found that pH value of the precursor solution considerably affects the morphology, stoichiometry and crystallographic structure of the target material, thereby resulting in different amounts of Mn3+ (i.e., different degree of disorder). 5% excessive Li source in the precursor may compensate for the lithium loss during the high-temperature sintering process and eliminate the LixNi1-xO impurity phase. Under the optimized synthesis conditions, the obtained high-purity LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 spinel exhibits enhanced electrochemical performances. A reversible capacity of ca. 140 mAh g−1 can be delivered at 0.1C and the electrode retains 106 mAh g−1 at 10C rate. When cycled at 0.2C, a capacity retention of more than 98% is obtained in the initial 50 electrochemical cycles.