Soft X‐ray Absorption Near Edge Structure Analysis on Lithium Manganese Oxide Prepared by Microwave Heating

Abstract

Microwave heating, which is recognized as a time‐saving and an energy‐efficient process, was used to synthesize manganese oxide from various starting materials. LiOH and MnO2 (electrochemically prepared manganese dioxide, EMD) were used as starting materials; ε‐MnO2‐type lithium manganese oxide that showed excellent cycle ability was the result of 3 min of microwave heating. A change in electronic structure was investigated using manganese L‐edge and oxygen K‐edge X‐ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). The XAS results indicated that the oxidation‐reduction reaction took place in the manganese 3d and in the oxygen 2p orbitals during the charge‐discharge process and that Jahn‐Teller distortion occurred in the reduced samples.