Crosslinking-derived MnO/carbon hybrid with ultrasmall nanoparticles for increasing lithium storage capacity during cycling

MnO/C hybrid with ultra-small MnO nanoparticles (5.2 nm) embedded in porous carbon is fabricated and applied as the anode material for lithium ion batteries. The MnO/C hybrid electrode exhibits excellent specific capacity of 820 mAh g−1 at a current density of 100 mA g−1 and also outstanding rate performance with specific capacity of 483 mAh g−1 at a current density of 5000 mA g−1. After cycling for 1000 times at 1000 mA g−1, the specific capacity increases to 1625 mAh g−1. The TEM photos show that the particles are broken into 2 nm particles after cycling. We also apply XAFS to detect the final state of the Mn in the hybrid electrodes and find that smaller MnO particles are oxidized to a mixture of Mn2O3 and MnO2.