Boosting the performance of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) beyond the state-of-the-art is mandatory toward meeting the future energy requirements of the consumer mass market. The replacement of conventional graphite anodes with conversion-type metal-oxide anodes is one progressive approach toward achieving this goal. Here, a LIB consisting of a highcapacity spinel NiMn2 O4 anode and a high-voltage spinel LiNi0.5 Mn1.5 O4 cathode was proposed. Polyhedral-shaped NiMn2 O4 powder was prepared from a citrate precursor via the sol-gel method. Electrochemical tests showed that the NiMn2 O4 in a half-cell configuration could deliver reversible capacities of 750 and 303 mAh g-1 at 0.1 and 3 C rates. Integrating the NiMn2 O4 anode into a full-cell configuration provided an estimated energy density of 506 Wh kg-1 (vs. cathode mass) upon 100 cycles and excellent cycling performance over 150 cycles at the 0.1 C rate, which can be considered promising in terms of satisfying the demands for high energy densities in large-scale applications.
Keywords: Li-ion; battery; conversion anode; full cell; spinel phases.
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