A short investigation on LiMn2O4 wrapped with MWCNT as composite cathode for lithium-ion batteries

The need for large-scale batteries impels the development of high-performance cathode material for advanced lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). The existing cathode materials such as LiCoO2, LiNiO2 and LiMnO2 were rated as potentially viable cathodes for commercial applications. Among these, LiMn2O4 and its composites was considered a sound cathode material for high-performance LIBs. In this study, the multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)-wrapped spinel LiMn2O4 nanocathode was synthesized via simple sol–gel method and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Raman, Impedance and galvanostatic charge/discharge analyses to study their structural, morphological, optical and electrochemical properties, respectively. XRD results reveal that the pure and MWCNT-embedded LiMn2O4 nanocathode exhibited similar cubic structure with space group of Fd3m. The as-fabricated MWCNT/LiMn2O4 battery showed the excellent reversible capacity (114 mAh g–1) with higher coulombic efficiency after multiple cycles. Herein, simple wrapping methodology was adopted to overcome the drawbacks of the pure spinel. Incorporated MWCNT uniformly entwined in the LiMn2O4 and lead to prevent the volume expansion, and pulverization in surface of the active LiMn2O4 particles, which confirmed from post FESEM analysis and their results are discussed. Interestingly, MWCNT addition showed that the enriched electrochemical properties in LiMn2O4 nanoparticles are able to hold as a potential cathode for high voltage LIBs.