Solvothermal synthesis and electrochemical performance of Li2MnSiO4/C cathode materials for lithium ion batteries

•Li2MnSiO4/C nanocomposite has been synthesized by the solvothermal method.•The particles of Li2MnSiO4/C are much smaller and more uniform.•The presence of Ni improves discharge capacity of Li2MnSiO4/C cathode material.•The initial discharge capacity of Ni-modified Li2MnSiO4/C is 274.5 mAh g−1 at 25 °C.

Orthorhombic structure Li2MnSiO4/C with Pmn21 space group is synthesized by the solvothermal method. Carbon coating and Ni2+ doping are used to improve the electronic conductivity and the cycling performance of Li2MnSiO4 cathode material, respectively. The particles of Li2MnSiO4/C are much smaller and more uniform than those of Li2MnSiO4 due to the carbon coating. It is shown that Ni2+ has been reduced into metal Ni during the synthesis process. The synthesized Ni-modified Li2MnSiO4/C (denoted as (LMS@Ni)/C) cathode material exhibits better electrochemical performance in comparison with Li2MnSiO4/C, attributing to higher lithium ion diffusion coefficient as well as electronic conductivity. The initial discharge capacity of (LMS@Ni)/C is 274.5 mA h g−1 and the reversible capacity after 20 cycles is 119.8 mA h g−1 at 25 °C.