Cycling behaviour of barium doped LiMn2O4 cathode materials for Li ion secondary batteries

In order to improve the cycling performance of LiMn2O4, the spinel phase LiMn2-xBaxO4 (x = 0.01, 0.02 and 0.05) compounds were fabricated by the glycine-nitrate method. The structures of the products were investigated by X-ray diffraction. Electrochemical studies were carried out using the Li vertical bar LiMn2O4 and Li vertical bar LiMn2-xBaxO4 cells. The capacity loss of Li vertical bar LiMn2O4 cell is about 15% after 30 cycles, whereas that for Ba doped spinet materials (x = 0.01, 0.02 and 0.05) are 7.5%, 3.5% and 1.8% respectively. The good capacity retention of LiMn2-xBaxO4 electrodes is attributed to stabilization of the spinet structure by Ba doping of Mn sites. Ba substituted spinets display better cycle performance in terms of cycle life compared with LiMn2O4