Carbon-coated single-crystalline LiMn2O4 nanowires synthesized by high-temperature solid-state reaction with high capacity for Li-ion battery

Abstract

It is a challenge to synthesize highly crystalline nanomorphologies under high-temperature environments. Here, we report that carbon-coated single-crystal LiMn2O4 nanowires were obtained via a high-temperature solid-state method under air environment using carbon-coated MnO2 as the precursor. Without the coated layer of carbon, the obtained LiMn2O4 is bulk. The carbon layer coating on MnO2 acts as a space-limiting layer to maintain the nanowire morphology of the final product of LiMn2O4 during the reaction. Owing to the merits of the highly crystalline, 1D nanowire morphology and the close-coated thin carbon layer, the produced LiMn2O4@C nanowires deliver large capacity and long-term cycling stability. In addition, the space-limiting role of the carbon layer was also found to function for LiMn2O4@C sphere. It is a general strategy to obtain ternary nanomaterials with high crystallinity.