Investigations on the Electrochemical Characteristics of Rechargeable MCMB-LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 Pouch Cells

In the present work, we have investigated the electrochemical characteristics of MCMB-LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 pouch cells. It is demonstrated that microstructure engineered, auto-combustion synthesized, lithium manganese nickel oxide (LMNO) spinel cathode yield decent capacity (~70 mAh/g at 10C rate) and cycleability. The superior rate performance is explained to be due to the truncated octahedral surface morphology of LMNO powder with affluence in (100) and (111) facets which expedite the Li+ ion diffusion during charge-discharge. MCMB-LMNO full cells yield 300 mAh capacity and ~80% capacity retention after 50 charge-discharge cycles at C/4 rate. It was claimed that faceted growth of particles might have retarded the dissolution of transition metal cations from the positive electrode and improved the discharge capacity and capacity retention characteristics of the fabricated cells. We have suggested that, decomposition of electrolyte during charge discharge needs to be impeded to further improve the electrochemical characteristics of these pouch cells.