Mo-doped Li2MnSiO4/C nanocomposite synthesized by citric acid-assisted sol-gel method with enhanced electrochemical properties

•The electrochemical properties of Li2MnSiO4/C materials were improved by Mo6+ doping.•The addition of Mo6+ was found to be beneficial for reducing the generation of MnO impurity in Li2MnSiO4/C products.•Citric acid-assisted sol-gel was used to synthesize the Mo-doped Li2MnSiO4/C nanocomposite.

Li2MnSiO4/C nanocomposite doped with Mo6+ ion was successfully synthesized by a citric acid-assisted sol-gel method. (NH4)6Mo7O24·4H2O was selected to act as the source of Mo6+. The Li2MnSiO4/C nanocomposite samples doped with Mo ion have less MnO impurity in the results of XRD patterns, showing lower electronic transfer resistance and higher specific capacity than undoped Li2MnSiO4/C material. Especially, the Li2MnSiO4/C nanocomposite doped with 6 wt% Mo6+ shows a discharge capacity of 207.3 mAh/g at 0.05 C and 199.7 mAh/g at 0.1 C.