Synthesis and characterization of electrospun aluminum doped Li1.6Mn1.6O4 spinel

Three dimensional porous Li1.6Al0.6MnO4 (LAMO) nanofibers were successfully prepared for the first time, via a facile electrospinning homogenous solution of lithium acetate, manganese nitrate and aluminum nitrate in polyvinyl alcohol and polyvinylpyrolidone solution followed by calcination of the as-spun nanofibers at 500, 700 and 900 °C. The processing parameters were; voltage 25 kV, flow rate 0.7 ml/h, the distance between the needle and collector 10 cm and the inner diameter of the needle 0.499 mm. X-ray diffraction of the samples prepared by using electrospinning and sol-gel revealed that Li1.6Al0.6MnO4 phase was formed at; 500 °C and 700 °C, respectively. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy revealed that the electrospun nanofibers at 700 °C were fabricated with diameter 250 nm, and the single fiber composed of 30 nm LAMO grains. On the other hand, samples calcined at 700 °C, prepared by sol-gel, show coalescence of the fine grains of LAMO in the form of microspheres with an average diameter of 1 µm and each microsphere is composed of fine crystals of LAMO. The characteristics of the prepared spinel make them promising for use in lithium adsorption from polluted effluents.