Lithium-ion (or Li-ion) batteries are heavy hitters when it comes to the world of rechargeable batteries. As electric vehicles become more common in the world, a high-energy, low-cost battery utilizing the abundance of manganese (Mn) can be a sustainable option to become commercially available and utilized in the automobile industry. Currently, batteries used for powering (EVs) are nickel (Ni) and cobalt (Co)-based, which can be expensive and unsustainable for a society with a growing desire for EVs.
By switching the positive electrode materials to a lithium/manganese-based material, researchers aim to maintain the high performance of Ni/Co-based materials but with a low-cost, sustainable twist. Researchers published their results in on 26 Aug. 2024.
Li-ion batteries are not new players in the field of rechargeable electronics, but there are always ways to innovate and improve already reliable methods. LiMnO as an electrode material has been studied in the past but has always been limited by restrictive electrode performance. "Through the systematic study on different LiMnO polymorphs, it is found that the monoclinic layered domain effectively activates structural transition to the spinel-like phase.
From this finding, nanostructured LiMnO with the monoclinic layered domain structures and has been directly synthesized by using a simple solid-state reaction," said Naoaki Yabuuchi, author and researcher of the study. A monoclinic system refers to the type of group symmetry of a.