PVP-Assisted ZrO2 coating on LiMn2O4 spinel cathode nanoparticles prepared by MnO2 nanowire templates

LiMn2O4 spinel nanorods prepared from nanowire MnO2 templates were capped with polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) and coated with ZrC2O4 precursors in aqueous solution. Upon annealing at 600 °C in air, an amorphous ZrO2 nanoscale coating layer was obtained on the spinel nanoparticles with a particle size of <100 nm that formed from the splitting of the original spinel nanorods. The electrochemical cycling results clearly showed that nanoscale ZrO2 coating significantly improved the rate capability and cycle life at 65 °C in spite of very high surface area of the spinel nanoparticles.