High-Voltage Spinel Cathode Materials: Navigating the Structural Evolution for Lithium-Ion Batteries

High-voltage LiNi_0.5Mn_1.5O₄ (LNMO) spinel oxides are highly promising cobalt-free cathode materials to cater to the surging demand for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, commercial application of LNMOs is still challenging despite decades of research. To address the challenge, the understanding of their crystallography and structural evolutions during synthesis and electrochemical operation is critical. This review aims to illustrate and to update the fundamentals of crystallography, phase transition mechanisms, and electrochemical behaviors of LNMOs. First, the research history of LNMO and its development into a LIB cathode material is outlined. Then the structural basics of LNMOs including the classic and updated views of the crystal polymorphism, interconversion between the polymorphs, and structure-composition relationship is reviewed. Afterward, the phase transition mechanisms of LNMOs that connect structural and electrochemical properties are comprehensively discussed from fundamental thermodynamics to operando dynamics at intra- and inter-particle levels. In addition, phase evolutions during overlithiation as well as thermal-/electrochemical-driven phase transformations of LNMOs are also discussed. Finally, recommendations are offered for the further development of LNMOs as well as other complex materials to unlock their full potential for future sustainable and powerful batteries.