Anion redox chemistry in the cobalt free 3D transition metal oxide intercalation electrode Li[Li0.2Ni0.2Mn0.6]O2

Conventional intercalation cathodes for lithium batteries store charge in redox reactions associated with the transition metal cations, e.g. Mn3+/4+ in LiMn2O4, and this limits the energy storage of Li-ion batteries. Compounds such as Li[Li0.2Ni0.2Mn0.6]O2 exhibit a capacity to store charge in excess of the transition metal redox reactions. The additional capacity occurs at and above 4.5 V vs. Li+/Li. The capacity at 4.5 V is dominated by oxidation of the O2- anions accounting for ~0.43 e-/formula unit, with an additional 0.06 e-/formula unit being associated with O loss from the lattice. In contrast, the capacity above 4.5 V, is mainly O loss, ~ 0.08 e-/formula. The O redox reaction involves the formation of localized hole states on O during charge, which are located on O coordinated by (Mn4+/Li+). The results have been obtained by combining operando electrochemical mass spec on 18O labelled Li[Li0.2Ni0.2Mn0.6]O2 with XANES, soft X-ray spectroscopy, Resonant Inelastic X-ray spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Finally the general features of O-redox are described with discussion about the role of comparatively ionic (less covalent) 3d metal-oxygen interaction on anion redox in lithium rich cathode materials