Strategic Design of Lithium-Rich Hierarchical Li_1.2Mn_0.54Ni_0.13Co_0.13O₂ Microcubes as High-Capacity Cathodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries

The structural instability of the Li-rich cathode material leads to poor cycling performance, capacity fading, and inappropriate applicability for high-rate applications, which gravely confines the development of the Li-rich materials. Here, we have reported the strategic design of Li-rich hierarchical Li 1.2 Mn 0.54 Ni 0.13 Co 0.13 O 2 (HC-LMNCO) microcubes synthesized using the cube-shaped HC-MnO 2 precursors through a facile hydrothermal route. The X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopic results confirmed the as-prepared HC-LMNCO microcubes are well-defined crystalline and have good layered structure. The scanning electron micrographs showed that the synthesized HC-LMNCO particles are in nano-/submicrocubes with uniform dispersion and have a hierarchical nanoarchitecture. Without any surface modifications, HC-LMNCO exhibits high capacities, good cycle stability, and outstanding rate capability compared to solid LMNCO (SC-LMNCO) microcubes at ambient temperature. In addition, performances of HC-LMNCO microcubes electrode at different temperatures (5, 40, and 60 °C) are showing excellent discharge capacities (123, 181, and 267 mAh g –1 ) and capacity retentions (55, 84 and 78% after 200th cycle) at 1C rate. The outstanding electrochemical performance of the HC-LMNCO microcubes cathode materials is related to the morphology and appropriate size as well as their hierarchical nanoarchitecture providing a feasible approach to fabricate robust and high-performance electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries.