Porous layered lithium-rich oxide nanorods: Synthesis and performances as cathode of lithium ion battery

Highlights: • One-step co-crystallization of oxalates was developed to synthesize layered lithium-rich oxide. • The oxalates provide the product with nanorod morphology and hierarchically porous structure. • The product exhibits improved rate capability and cyclic stability. - Abstract: A layered lithium-rich oxide, Li[Li_0.19Mn_0.32Co_0.49]O₂, is synthesized by introducing manganese and cobalt via oxalates co-crystallization in reverse micellar microemulsion. The physical and electrochemical performances of the as-synthesized oxide are evaluated as cathode of lithium ion battery. The physical characterizations, from X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope, indicate that the as-synthesized oxide takes a nanorod morphology of up to 1 μm in length and 200 nm in diameter, which is composed of about 20 nm subunit nanoparticles, and possesses a hierarchical pore structure. Electrochemical measurements demonstrate that the as-synthesized oxide exhibits improved charge/discharge performances: less polarization, larger discharge capacity, higher rate capability, and better cyclic stability, compared to the sample synthesized by introducing the transition metals in solid-state reaction