Hierarchical hollow microcuboid LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 as cathode material with excellent rate and cycling performance for lithium-ion batteries

The rational design of the structure is the key to engineering spinel LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 cathode material to enhance Li+/electron transport and relieve the structural damage during the reduplicative Li+ intercalation/deintercalation, which is closely to the rate and cycling performance. Here, we report hollow microcuboid LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 composed of interconnected nanoparticles which can simultaneously achieve the easy Li+ diffusion and high structure robustness. The hollow microcuboid has been fabricated by a facile solvothermal reaction followed by a lithiation process. It is found that the morphology and the size can be easily controlled, which depends on the initial nucleation process. The obtained hollow microcuboid LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 presents excellent rate and cycling performance. It delivers a capacity of 125 mAh g−1 at the discharge rate of 1 C. Even at a high discharge rate of 30 C, the capacity of 109 mAh g−1 and a discharge capacity retention of 94.4% after 900 cycles can be achieved. The excellent performance should be ascribed to its intrinsic hierarchical hollow structure, which not only benefits the diffusion of Li+ but also provides pore spaces to relieve the volume expansion during the high rate charge/discharge process. The result suggests the potential application of hollow microcuboid LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 cathode material for high-rate and long-life Li ion batteries.