A new strategy toward enhancing the phosphate doping in Li _xMn₂O₄ cathode materials

This paper describes the preparation of a new precursor for incorporating phosphate into a LiMn₂O₄ spinel-like cathode material. This novel precursor is characterized using FTIR, UV-vis, ATD/TG/DSC, CHN elemental analyses, TEM-EDS and SEM-EDS techniques. The proposed strategy involves forming a Li-NH₄-Mn(III)-citrate solution that introduces high quantities of PO₄^3- counter-ions at a certain pH and peroxide concentration. The presence of Mn(III) in the citrate solid precursor enables the rapid (1 h) preparation of pure and homogeneous LiMn ₂O₄(PO₄)_0.1 spinel-like oxide nanoparticles at a very low temperature (350 °C). The doping level of the material confers a higher a-lattice parameter value (8.2182±0.0003 Å) to the structure that improves the lithium transport appreciably when combined with the nanometric particle size.