Effective enhancement of electrochemical performance for low-cost cathode material Li1.231Mn0.615Ni0.154O2 via a novel facile hydrothermal modification

Abstract A novel facile hydrothermal modification method is applied to improve the electrochemical performance of the low-cost cathode material Li 1.231 Mn 0.615 Ni 0.154 O 2 , which is primarily prepared by a solid-combustion approach. The material before and after modifying are characterized by energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), BET and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The samples are served as the cathode of lithium-ion batteries and investigated by galvanostatic experiments within a voltage range 2.0–4.8 V ( vs . Li/Li + ). The results reveal that the electrochemical performance of the Li 1.231 Mn 0.615 Ni 0.154 O 2 cathode electrode is prominently enhanced after modifying. The significantly improved electrochemical performance of the Li 1.231 Mn 0.615 Ni 0.154 O 2 cathode is attributed largely to the modification of the surface microstructure and the crystallinity.