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Published on: November 11, 2013
Atomistic Insights of Irreversible Li+ Intercalation in MnO2 Electrode
Kun He1,2, Yifei Yuan1,2, Wentao Yao2
1College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, 325035, China.
Abstract:
Tunnel-structured MnO2 represents open-framed electrode materials for reversible energy storage. Its wide application is limited by its poor cycling stability, whose structural origin is unclear. We tracked the structure evolution of β-MnO2 upon Li+ ion insertion/extraction by combining advanced in situ diagnostic tools at both electrode level (synchrotron X-ray scattering) and single-particle level (transmission electron microscopy). The instability is found to originate from a partially reversible phase transition between β-MnO2 and orthorhombic LiMnO2 upon lithiation, causing cycling capacity decay. Moreover, the MnO2 /LiMnO2 interface exhibits multiple arrow-headed disordered regions, which severely chop into the host and undermine its structural integrity. Our findings could account for the cycling instability of tunnel-structured materials, based on which future strategies should focus on tuning the charge transport kinetics toward performance enhancement.
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