Effect of alkaline environment on the electrochemical performance of manganese ferrate materials in lithium-ion battery cathode materials

Efficient energy storage system based on rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is the leading technology in portable equipment market. In this study, manganese ferrite (MnFe2O4) nanomaterials treated at 200 degrees C for 8 h were synthesized by solvothermal method under the condition of pH = 12 and pH = 10 respectively, and the spherical MnFe2O4 nanoparticles with an average size of 23 nm were obtained. MnFe2O4 materials were char-acterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Results demonstrated that MnFe2O4 nanomaterials prepared under pH = 12 have smaller particle size. They were also tested as anodes for LIBs in multiplicity tests. The materials synthesized at pH = 10 decayed faster with increasing current density, while the MnFe2O4 nanoparticles syn-thesized at pH = 12 had a more excellent performance with a first-turn discharge specific capacity of 1700 mAh/ g and about 750 mAh/g at 0.1 A/g and 1 A/g, respectively. In addition, the cycle stability was also tested. After 350 cycles, the specific capacity of the materials composited at pH = 12 still reached about 450 mAh/g at 0.5 A/ g. The electrochemical data show that the smaller the material particles are, the better the performance is. Therefore, the MnFe2O4 nanomaterials could be applied as a potential anode electromaterial in the future.

Automated summary

In this study, manganese ferrite nanomaterials were synthesized by solvothermal method and tested as anodes for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). The results showed that the nanomaterials synthesized under specific conditions exhibited smaller particle size and better performance, indicating their potential application as battery materials in the future.