Template‐Assisted Synthesis of a One‐Dimensional Hierarchical Li1.2Mn0.54Ni0.13Co0.13O2 Microrod Cathode Material for Lithium‐Ion Batteries

A lithium-rich layered one-dimensional (1D) hierarchical Li1.2Mn0.54Ni0.13Co0.13O2 microrod has been synthesized via a facile template-assisted strategy through chemical lithiation of a rodlike MC2O42H2O (M= Ni, Co, Mn) oxalate precursor obtained from a two-step co-precipitation route without any surfactants adopted. The chemical composition, structure and morphology of the as-prepared lithium-rich layered material are well characterized, and it can be found that the resultant Li1.2Mn0.54Ni0.13Co0.13O2 material presents an ordered 1D microrod morphology and consists of interconnected nanosized subunits (~200 nm) with a highly porous structure. Because of the hierarchically ordered 1D microrod structure, Li1.2Mn0.54Ni0.13Co0.13O2 used as cathode material exhibits superior reversible capacity, rate capability and cycling performance compared with its bulk counterpart, which delivers high specific discharge capacities of 260 and 118 mAh/g at current rates of 0.1 and 5 C, respectively, and a high discharge capacity of 170 mAh/g can be also maintained even after 200 cycles at 2 C, corresponding to a capacity retention as high as 89.6%. The remarkable electrochemical performances can be related to the unique 1D rodlike porous micro-nano hierarchical structure, which can facilitate the diffusion of Li+ ions and strengthen the structural stability of the lithium-rich layered cathode materials.