Advances in manganese-oxide ‘composite’ electrodes for lithium-ion batteries

Recent advances to develop manganese-rich electrodes derived from ‘composite’ structures in which a Li2MnO3 (layered) component is structurally integrated with either a layered LiMO2 component or a spinel LiM2O4 component, in which M is predominantly Mn and Ni, are reviewed. The electrodes, which can be represented in two-component notation as xLi2MnO3·(1 − x)LiMO2 and xLi2MnO3·(1 − x)LiM2O4, are activated by lithia (Li2O) and/or lithium removal from the Li2MnO3, LiMO2 and LiM2O4 components. The electrodes provide an initial capacity >250 mAh g−1 when discharged between 5 and 2.0 V vs. Li0 and a rechargeable capacity up to 250 mAh g−1 over the same potential window. Electrochemical charge and discharge reactions are followed on compositional phase diagrams. The data bode well for the development and exploitation of high capacity electrodes for the next generation of lithium-ion batteries.