Crystal Structure Control of Lithium Manganese Spinel Oxides and Their Application to Lithium Secondary Battery

Abstract

Lithium ion can almost reversibly intercalate into or deintercalate from spinel type lithium manganese oxide LiMn₂O₄. LiMn₂O₄ is one of the most promising cathode materials for lithium secondary battery because of natural abundance of manganese and its low toxicity to environment. In this paper, the relationship between crystal structure and charge-discharge properties of LiMn₂O₄ cathode is summarized. Moreover, a part of substitution of manganese with other transition metal brings the improvement of cycle life. We focused on the local structure of the spinels and considered the effect of the local distortion on the cycle life of the spinel cathodes.