Role of electrolytes on electrochemical performance of hydrothermally grown Li2MnSiO4 cathode material for Li-ion battery application in the energy nexus frame work

Abstract

The present work reports the Li2MnSiO4, the next generation of perspective cathode material for lithium-ion batteries application synthesized via a hydrothermal route under optimal conditions and its electrochemical performance in different aqueous electrolytes, such as KOH, NaOH and LiOH is investigated. X-ray diffraction revealed orthorhombic structure with the Pmn21 space group. Scanning Electron Microscope analysis shows the flower-like morphology which results in better electrochemical performance. Fourier Transform Infrared analysis has been done to identify the chemical bonds present in the material. The electrochemical characterization of the as-prepared cathode material in different aqueous electrolytes was done using CHI760E Electrochemical station with Ag/AgCl as a reference electrode. Cyclic Voltammetry is used to calculate the diffusion coefficient for each electrolyte and also cyclic voltammetry graphs have been generated for each electrolyte which shows different power ratings at different scan rates. Galvanostatic charge-discharge is used to determine the specific capacity of the material in each electrolyte. The results analysis shows that electrochemical performance is greatly affected by the nature of the electrolyte and the maximum specific capacity is found to be KOH (2M) in comparison to the other two electrolytes. Therefore, the selection of electrolytes plays a crucial function in the electrochemical performance of cathode material for lithium-ion battery applications.