Li-Mn-O Cathode Materials for Li-Ion Batteries: Synthesis, Structure Instability, Characterizations, and...

Li-Mn-O materials are regarded as highly promising cathodes candidates for large-scale energy storage applications owing to the abundance, low cost, and low toxicity of manganese. Although existing reviews have explored certain Li-Mn-O cathode systems, such as LiMn₂O₄ and lithium-rich Mn-based oxides, a systematic analysis comprehensively correlating the structural characteristics, fundamental failure mechanisms, and corresponding modification strategies across different Li-Mn-O systems remains lacking. Few reviews have fully integrated multiscale failure mechanisms spanning from atomic-scale distortions to electrode-level performance degradation, along with synergistic mitigation strategies, which have yet to be systematically elucidated. Therefore, this review aims to bridge these research gaps by systematically integrating and critically evaluating recent groundbreaking advances in the mechanistic understanding and performance optimization of Li-Mn-O materials, covering the structural fundamentals, available synthesis methods, intrinsic mechanisms of structural instability and characterizations, and corresponding strategies for performance enhancement of Li-Mn-O materials. Furthermore, we propose perspectives on future research directions for high-stability Mn-based cathode materials, offering theoretical support for next-generation lithium battery technologies.