Effects of synthetic parameters on structure and electrochemical performance of spinel lithium manganese oxide by citric acid-assisted sol–gel method

The spinel lithium manganese oxide cathode materials were prepared by citric acid-assisted sol–gel method at 623–1073 K in air. The effects of pH value, raw material, synthesis temperature and time on structure and electrochemical performance of spinel lithium manganese oxide are investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electronic microscope (SEM) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). XRD data results strongly suggest that the synthesis temperature is the dominating factors of the formation of spinel phase, and spinel lithium manganese oxide powder with various crystallites size can be obtained by controlling the sintering time. CV shows that spinel lithium manganese oxide powder formed about 973 K presents the best electrochemical performance with well separated two peaks and the highest peak current. Charge–discharge test indicates that spinel lithium manganese oxide powders calcined at higher temperatures have high discharge capacity and capacity loss, and sintered at lower temperatures has low discharge capacity and high capacity retention.