•Hollow carbon beads on string structure was first prepared.•Flexible 3D electrodes as graded reservoirs for polysulfides were conducted.•Synergistic effect for enhanced polysulfides storage was claimed.Three-dimensional (3D) flexible electrodes of stringed hollow nitrogen-doped (N-doped) carbon nanospheres as graded sulfur reservoirs and conductive frameworks were elaborately designed via a combination of the advantages of hollow structures, 3D electrodes and flexible devices. The as-prepared electrodes by a synergistic method of electrospinning, template sacrificing and activation for Li–S batteries without any binder or conductive additives but a 3D interconnected conductive network offered multiple transport paths for electrons and improved sulfur utilization and facilitated an easy access to Li+ ingress/egress. With the increase of density of hollow carbon spheres in the strings, the self-supporting composite electrode reveals an enhanced synergistic mechanism for sulfur confinement and displays a better cycling stability and rate performance. It delivers a high initial specific capacity of 1422.6 mAh g−1 at the current rate of 0.2C with the high sulfur content of 76 wt.%, and a much higher energy density of 754 Wh kg−1 and power density of 1901 Wh kg−1, which greatly improve the energy/power density of traditional lithium–sulfur batteries and will be promising for further commercial applications.Flexible three-dimensional electrode comprised of stringed N-doped hollow carbon spheres shows a synergistic sulfur confinement mechanism and a higher energy/power density for the promising lithium-sulfur batteries compared with traditional electrodes.Download high-res image (146KB)Download full-size image

A novel 1D hierarchical chainlike LiCoO2 organized by flake-shaped primary particles is synthesized via a facile template-engaged strategy by using CoC2O4·2H2O as a self-sacrificial template obtained from a simple coprecipitation method. The resultant LiCoO2 has a well-built hierarchical structure, consisting of secondary micrometer-sized chains and sub-micrometer-sized primary flakes, while these primary LiCoO2 flakes have specifically exposed fast-Li+-diffused active {010} facets. Owing to this unique hierarchical structure, the chainlike LiCoO2 serves as a stable cathode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) operated at a high cutoff voltage up to 4.5 V, enabling highly reversible capacity, remarkable rate performance, and long-term cycle life. Specifically, the chainlike LiCoO2 can deliver a reversible discharge capacity as high as 168, 156, 150, and 120 mAh g–1 under the current density of 0.1, 0.5, 1, and 5 C, respectively, while about 85% retention of the initial capacity can be retained after 200 cycles under 1 C at room temperature. Moreover, the chainlike LiCoO2 also shows an excellent cycling stability at a wide operating temperature range, showing the capacity retention of ∼73% after 200 cycles at 55 °C and of ∼68% after 50 cycles at −10 °C, respectively. The work described here suggests the great potential of the hierarchical chainlike LiCoO2 as high-voltage cathode materials aimed toward developing advanced LIBs with high energy density and power density.Keywords: cathode material; chainlike morphology; hierarchical structure; LiCoO2; lithium-ion batteries

A thick and dense flakelike LiCoO2 with exposed {010} active facets is synthesized using Co(OH)2 nanoflake as a self-sacrificial template obtained from a simple coprecipitation method, and served as a cathode material for lithium ion batteries. When operated at a high cutoff voltage up to 4.5 V, the resultant LiCoO2 exhibits an outstanding rate capability, delivering a reversible discharge capacity as high as 179, 176, 168, 116, and 96 mA h g–1 at 25 °C under the current rate of 0.1, 0.5, 1, 5, and 10 C, respectively. When charge/discharge cycling at 55 °C, a high specific capacity of 148 mA h g–1 (∼88% retention) can be retained after 100 cycles under 1 C, demonstrating excellent cycling and thermal stability. Besides, the flakelike LiCoO2 also shows an impressive low-temperature electrochemical activity with specific capacities of 175 (0.1 C) and 154 mA h g–1 (1 C) at −10 °C, being the highest ever reported for a subzero-temperature lithium storage capability, as well as 52% capacity retention even after 80 cycles under 1 C. Such superior high-voltage electrochemical performances of the flakelike LiCoO2 operated at a wide temperature range are mainly attributed to its unique hierarchical structure with specifically exposed facets. The exposed {010} active facets provide a preferential crystallographic orientation for Li-ion migration, while the micrometer-sized secondary particles agglomerated by submicron primary LiCoO2 flakes endow the electrode with better structural integrity, both of which ensure the LiCoO2 cathode to manifest remarkably enhanced reversible lithium storage properties.Keywords: cathode materials; flakelike morphology; hierarchical structure; LiCoO2; lithium-ion batteries; {010} facets

•Molecular-level doping of vanadium into crystal lattices with the introduction of generated water-soluble VOC2O4.•The fast electron transfer between V5+ and V4+ contributes to the conductivity and reduces the electrochemical polarization.•The cycle stability and high-rate capacity are enhanced with a minor amount of vanadium doping.As promising cathode materials in Li-ion batteries, Li-rich layered oxides still suffer from unsatisfactory rate capability and cyclic stability during cycling. Herein, vanadium doped Li-rich cathode materials Li1.2Mn0.52-x/3Co0.08-x/3Ni0.2-x/3VxO2 were successfully prepared by using a facile low heat solid state-thermal decomposition method with the introduction of generated water-soluble vanadyl oxalate (VOC2O4) as dopant. The effects of substitution for Ni, Co and Mn with vanadium on structure, morphology, elemental valence state, rate performance and cycling stability were systematically investigated. It is concluded that a minor amount of vanadium doping (x = 0.015) expands the interslab spacing of layered oxide and facilitates the lithium-ion diffusion. The vanadium ions incorporated into crystal lattices have two valence states of +5 and +4 and elevate the conductivity via fast electron transfer between V5+ and V4+, improving the rate capability especially the high-rate performance (99.0 mAh·g−1 at 5C rate). Besides, the relatively excellent cyclic performance (a capacity retention of 90.2% is reserved after 50 cycles at 1C rate) for sample Li1.2Mn0.515Co0.075Ni0.195V0.015O2 can be also ascribed to the enhanced structure stability derived from the much more robust V-O bond in comparison with the Mn-O, Ni-O and Co-O bonds.

Hierarchically structured Li4Ti5O12-TiO2 (LTO-TiO2) composites are synthesized using a facile hydrothermal approach upon reaction time control. With control over the time of hydrothermal reaction at 18 h, a hierarchical dual-phase LTO-TiO2 composite with appropriate amount of anatase TiO2 can be obtained, and it possesses a uniform carambola-like framework assembled by numerous ultrathin nanosheets, which enable a relatively large specific surface area, along with abundant interlayer channels to favor electrolyte penetration. When used as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries, such carambola-like LTO-TiO2 composite exhibits remarkably improved capacity, high-rate capability, and cycling stability over other LTO-TiO2 samples, which are synthesized at different time of hydrothermal reaction. Specifically, it deliveries a discharge capacity as high as 115.1 and 91.2 mAh g−1 at a very high current rate of 20 and 40C, respectively, while a stable reversible capacity of 171.7 mAh g−1 can be retained after 200 charge-discharge cycles at 1C, corresponding to 88.6% capacity retention. The excellent electrochemical performances benefit from the unique hierarchical carambola-like structure together with the mutually complementary intrinsic advantages between LTO and TiO2. The robust and porous nanosheets-assembled LTO-TiO2 framework not only offers a shorter transport pathway for electron and Li-ion migration within this composite material, but also is able to alleviate the structure distortion during the fast Li-ion insertion/extraction process. The work described here shows that the hierarchical carambola-like LTO-TiO2 composite is a promising anode material for high-power and long-life lithium-ion batteries.

•H2SiO3 is used as a remover to react with lithium residues on LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 surface.•A surface coating layer of Li+-conductive Li2Si2O5 is formed.•Coating layer improves the velocity of Li+ migration on electrode surface.•Erosion from the HF and CO2 on electrode is greatly suppressed.Ni-rich ternary layered oxides, (LiNix [M]1−xO2, x ≥ 0.5, M = Co and Mn), have become one of the mainstream cathode materials for next-generation lithium-ion batteries due to their high capacity and cost efficiency compared with LiCoO2. However, the high-voltage operation of the Ni-rich oxides (>4.3 V) required for high capacity is inevitably accompanied with a rapid capacity decay over numerous cycles. In this work, we reported a surface coating of LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 with Li2Si2O5via a facile and efficient synthetic approach, which involves the employment of silicic acid (H2SiO3) as remover to react with the surface residual lithium compounds (e.g. Li2CO3 and LiOH) of LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 and consequent formation of a robust and complete Li+-conductive Li2Si2O5 protective coating layer. The structure and morphology of the coated cathode materials are fully characterized by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Compared with the pristine LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2, coating with the Li+-conductive Li2Si2O5 is found to be very effective for improving the rate capability of the LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 when evaluated at a high cut-off voltage up to 4.5 V. Specifically, 1 wt. % H2SiO3-treated LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 electrode exhibits high discharge specific capacities of 213.9 and 121.6 mAh g−1 at 0.1 and 10 C, respectively, whereas the pristine electrode only shows 196.8 and 92.1 mAh g−1. Besides, the surface-modified LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 electrode also manifests an enhanced long-term cycling stability (67% capacity retention after 200 cycles at 5 C), much better than the pristine electrode (52% retention) due to the robust protective effect of the Li2Si2O5 coating layer. All these results indicate that the Li2Si2O5-coated LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 will be a promising cathode material for lithium-ion batteries with fascinating electrochemical energy storage capabilities.Silicic acid is used as a remover to react with lithium residues (LiOH and Li2CO3) on the surface of LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 and subsequently generate an ion-conductive coating layer of Li2Si2O5 after heat treatment. The surface-coated cathode materials show a remarkably enhanced rate capability, discharge specific capacities, and cycling performance for Li-ion batteries.

•Li2TiO3 is used as coating materials for layer structured LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 cathode.•Solvothermal coating strategy is employed to strengthen surface coating.•Coating layer improves the velocity of Li+ migration on electrode surface.•Erosion from the HF and CO2 on electrode is greatly suppressed.LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 (NCA) microspheres covered by a nanoscale Li2TiO3-based shell were synthesized by a facile strategy based on a solvothermal pre-coating treatment combined with a post-sintering lithiation process. The morphology, structure and composition of the Li2TiO3-coated NCA samples were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning scanning electron microscope (SEM) with an energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscope (EDS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Owing to the complete, uniform and nanoscale Li2TiO3 coating shell, the resultant surface-modified NCA microspheres used as Li-ion battery cathode materials manifest remarkably enhanced cycling performances, attaining 94% and 84% capacity retention after 200 and 400 cycles at 0.5 C, respectively, which is much better than the pristine NCA counterpart (60% retention, 200 cycles). More impressively, the surface-modified NCA also shows an intriguing storage stability. After being stored at 30 °C for 50 days, the coated NCA-based cells are subjected to be cycled both at room and elevated temperatures, in which the aged cells can still remain 84% capacity retention after 200 cycles at 25 °C and 77% capacity retention after 200 cycles at 55 °C, respectively. All these results demonstrate that the Li2TiO3-coated LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 microsphere is a promising cathode material for Li-ion batteries with long lifespan.Nanoscale Li2TiO3-based shell encapsulated LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 (NCA) microspheres are fabricated through a solvothermal pre-coating treatment combined with post-lithiation process. The surface-coated NCA as cathode materials shows a remarkably enhanced cycling performance and storage stability for long lifespan Li-ion batteries.

•Rhombohedron-like LiFePO4 platelets exposed on (010) plane are synthesized.•LiFePO4 with preferential (010) plane exhibits enhanced electrochemical performances.•Mechanism of the PEG-induced growth of LiFePO4 platelets is revealed.Rhombohedron-like LiFePO4 platelets with preferentially exposed (010) plane are synthesized via solvothermal reaction using 30 vol.% Polyethylene glycol (PEG) solution as solvent. The mechanism of the PEG-induced crystal growth of the LiFePO4 platelets under solvothermal circumstance is revealed. The crystal structure, micro morphology and electrochemical performance of the prepared LiFePO4 platelets are studied by means of X-Ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and galvanostatic charge-discharge test. Due to the preferential growth of (010) lattice plane facilitating diffusion of Li-ions, the LiFePO4 material shows excellent electrochemical performance. The as-obtained products deliver initial discharge capacities of 166.8 mAh g− 1 with an initial Coulombic efficiency of 99.4% at 0.1C, discharge capacities of 144.7 mAh g− 1 at 1C and discharge capacities of 116.5 mAh g− 1 at 5C. Moreover, the discharge capacities after 262 cycles at 1C are 142.4 mAh g− 1 (capacity retention is 98.4%). This solvothermal reaction approach is a promising strategy for the commercialization of LiFePO4 cathode in lithium ion batteries.

A modified lyophilization approach is developed and used for highly efficient transformation of 2D graphene oxide sheet into 1D graphene nanoscroll (GNS) with high topological transforming efficiency (∼94%). Because of the unique open tubular structure and large specific surface area (545 m2 g–1), GNS is utilized for the first time as a porous cathode scaffold for encapsulating sulfur with a high loading (81 wt %), and also as a conductive skeleton for assembling MnO2 nanowires into a flexible free-standing hybrid interlayer, both enabling high-rate and long-life Li–S battery.Keywords: free-standing hybrid interlayer; graphene nanoscroll; high sulfur loading; large surface area; lithium sulfur batteries;

One-dimensional LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 microrods are synthesized through chemical lithiation of mixed Ni, Co, and Al oxalate microrods obtained via a two-step co-precipitation strategy. The rod-like morphology together with high structural stability endows the LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 microrods with superior rate capability and cycling performance for highly reversible lithium storage.

Diverse single crystalline spinel LiMn2O4 cathode materials are derived from spherical and cubic MnCO3 precursors using a general pH-mediated chemical precipitation approach. With careful pre-controls over the particle properties of the MnCO3 precursors upon pH adjustment, five LiMn2O4 samples with an average size of 0.5–1.0 μm are obtained. Among these samples, the LiMn2O4 prepared at a pH value of 7.0 exhibits a well-defined truncated octahedral crystal structure in which most surfaces are aligned to the {111} crystalline orientations with minimal Mn dissolution, whereas a small portion of the structure is truncated along the {110} orientations to support Li diffusion. Benefiting from the unique crystal structure, the synthesized LiMn2O4 cathode manifests superior rate capability and prolonged cycle stability, especially at elevated temperatures with a capacity retention of 86.7% after 1000 cycles at 5 C under 25 °C and of 80.7% after 250 cycles at 1 C under 55 °C. These results demonstrate that the morphology of the MnCO3 precursor obtained by using the precipitation method has a significant influence on the crystal structure and electrochemical properties of resultant LiMn2O4. The work described here also shows a great potential in practical industrial applications aimed towards developing high performance LiMn2O4 electrode materials for lithium ion batteries.

In this work, influence of multistep sintering method on electrochemical performances of 7LiFePO4·Li3V2(PO4)3/C composite cathode material for lithium ion batteries has been researched in detail, and a 7LiFePO4·Li3V2(PO4)3/C cathode composite material with excellent cycling stability and rate capability is successfully synthesized. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope analysis results demonstrate that the multistep sintering method has significant effect on the crystal structure and surface morphology of the synthesized materials. Cycle voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and charge/discharge test are further carried out to investigate the influence of the sintering time on the electrochemical performances of the cathode materials. The electrochemical analysis results indicate that, when sintered at 650 °C for 12 h and then 750 °C for 4 h, the cathode material 7LiFePO4·Li3V2(PO4)3/C shows the most excellent electrochemical performances. It exhibits a good rate capability with the initial discharge specific capacities of 162.8, 149.8, and 122.2 mAh g−1 at 1, 2, and 5 C, respectively. Moreover, after a total of 150 cycles at different rates, this cathode material still maintains an excellent cycling stability without significant capacity fading, in which it can deliver the discharge specific capacities of 160.8, 146.9, and 120.6 mAh g−1 after 50 cycles at 1, 2, and 5 C, while the capacity retentions can reach to 98.8, 98.1, and 98.7 %, respectively.

Layer-structured LiTiO2 as a coating layer is built on the surface of ternary layered LiNi0.5Co0.2Mn0.3O2 microspheres using a facile infiltrative pre-coating approach. The uniform, nanoscale LiTiO2 coating layer doped with Ni2+ and Mn4+ ions strongly adheres to the host materials, which endows LiNi0.5Co0.2Mn0.3O2 microspheres with superior high-voltage cycling and thermal stability when used as cathode material for Li-ion batteries.

•Anatase nano-TiO2 is successfully coated on the surface of LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2.•Appropriate amount of TiO2 is beneficial to reduce cation disorder.•The 1.0 wt.% TiO2-coated LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 exhibits excellent electrochemistry properties.•The TiO2-coated LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 presents excellent thermal stability.Nickel-rich LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 cathode material is coated with nano-sized anatase TiO2 synthesized via hydrolyzation method to improve its electrochemical performance at high cutoff voltage of 4.5 V. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) results show that the anatase TiO2 is successfully coated on the surface of LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 with nanoscale and the coating layer thickness is about 25–35 nm. X-ray diffraction (XRD) test results indicate that appropriate amount of TiO2 coating is beneficial to form a good layered structure with less cation disorder. Charge–discharge test results demonstrate that the TiO2-coated LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 presents excellent cycling capability, rate capability and thermal stability at cutoff voltage of 4.5 V. The 1.0 wt.% TiO2-coated LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 exhibits a capacity retention of 88.7% after 50 cycles at 1 C and a discharge capacity of 135.8 mAh g−1 after 10 cycles at 5 C, comparing to those of the pristine LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 of only 78.1% and 85.4 mAh g−1. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) tests results provide evidence that the improved electrochemical properties are mainly attributed to the suppression of the interface reaction between the cathode and electrolyte and the improvement of structural stability of the material by coating.

•Al2O3 nano-particles, dispersed well by ultrasonic treatment, were used to coat on the surface of LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 powder.•Appropriate amount of Al2O3-coating could facilitate hexagonal ordering of the material.•The LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 has initial discharge capacity of 197.1 mA h g−1 at 0.2 C over 2.8–4.5 V and capacity retention of 91.0% after 30 cycles at 1 C.•The 1.0 wt.% Al2O3-coated sample shows a high discharge capacity of 153.5 mA h g−1 after 5 cycles under a 10 C rate.The LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 powder was coated with nano-Al2O3 particles via ultrasonic coating, and its electrochemical performances were improved greatly. The X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscope and energy dispersive spectroscopy were employed to research the structure variation, surface appearance and coating status. The results show that the nano-Al2O3 particles are successfully coated and the thickness of coating layer is about 20–25 nm. The XRD test results indicate that appropriate amount of Al2O3 coated is beneficial to form a better layered structure with smaller cation disorder. The charge–discharge results show that LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 coated with Al2O3 of 1.0 wt.% has initial discharge capacity of 197.1 mA h g−1, initial coulombic efficiency of 91.2% at 0.2 C over 2.8–4.5 V and capacity retention of 91.0% much more than the pristine one of 82.9.0% after 30 cycles at 1 C. Especially, the rate capability of 1.0 wt.% Al2O3-coated sample is improved evidently, it shows a high discharge capacity of 153.5 mA h g−1 after 5 cycles under a 10 C rate, whereas the pristine one is only 126.3 mA h g−1 under the same conditions. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy tests results also show that the impedance of LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 is significantly reduced by Al2O3 coating during the cycling.

Cathode material LiFe0.7 V0.2PO4/C is successfully synthesized by multistep sintering through carbon thermal reaction including 650 °C for 10 h and 750 °C for 6 h. The crystal structure and surface morphology of the synthesized materials are characterized by X-ray diffractometer and scanning electron microscope, respectively. Cycle voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and charge–discharge test are used to investigate the electrochemical performances of these samples. The results revealed that the synthesized LiFe0.7 V0.2PO4/C material simultaneously contains olivine structure LiFePO4 and monoclinic structure Li3V2(PO4)3. It shows improved conductivity, Li-ion diffusion coefficient, excellent charge/discharge performance, and reversibility due to both the incorporation of Li3V2(PO4)3 fast ion conductor and the employed multistep sintering. The initial discharge specific capacities of LiFe0.7 V0.2PO4/C by multistep sintering are 167.8, 154.7, and 140.8 mAh g−1 at 0.5, 1, and 2 C, respectively. After a total of 230 cycles at different rates, the sample still shows good performances. After 100 cycles at 2 C, the capacity retention is 99.1 %, and the capacity is 139.6 mAh g−1. The LiFe0.7 V0.2PO4/C material synthesized by this method can be used as a cathode material for advanced lithium-ion batteries.

A non-enzymatic amperometric glucose biosensor based on the modification of functional nickel hexacyanoferrate nanoparticles was prepared via electrochemical deposition. The electrochemical deposition of the nickel hexacyanoferrate nanoparticles was obtained by potential cycling in a solution containing nickel (II) and hexacyanoferrate (III) producing a modified surface with a high degree of uniformity. The modified electrode is exemplified towards the non-enzymatic sensing of glucose where using cyclic voltammetry and amperometry, low micro-molar up to milli-molar glucose concentrations are readily detectable. The non-enzymatic sensing of glucose also shows a modest selectivity over ascorbic acid. This platform offers a novel route for glucose sensors with wide analytical applications.

One-dimensional LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 microrods are synthesized through chemical lithiation of mixed Ni, Co, and Al oxalate microrods obtained via a two-step co-precipitation strategy. The rod-like morphology together with high structural stability endows the LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 microrods with superior rate capability and cycling performance for highly reversible lithium storage.

Layer-structured LiTiO2 as a coating layer is built on the surface of ternary layered LiNi0.5Co0.2Mn0.3O2 microspheres using a facile infiltrative pre-coating approach. The uniform, nanoscale LiTiO2 coating layer doped with Ni2+ and Mn4+ ions strongly adheres to the host materials, which endows LiNi0.5Co0.2Mn0.3O2 microspheres with superior high-voltage cycling and thermal stability when used as cathode material for Li-ion batteries.

Diverse single crystalline spinel LiMn2O4 cathode materials are derived from spherical and cubic MnCO3 precursors using a general pH-mediated chemical precipitation approach. With careful pre-controls over the particle properties of the MnCO3 precursors upon pH adjustment, five LiMn2O4 samples with an average size of 0.5–1.0 μm are obtained. Among these samples, the LiMn2O4 prepared at a pH value of 7.0 exhibits a well-defined truncated octahedral crystal structure in which most surfaces are aligned to the {111} crystalline orientations with minimal Mn dissolution, whereas a small portion of the structure is truncated along the {110} orientations to support Li diffusion. Benefiting from the unique crystal structure, the synthesized LiMn2O4 cathode manifests superior rate capability and prolonged cycle stability, especially at elevated temperatures with a capacity retention of 86.7% after 1000 cycles at 5 C under 25 °C and of 80.7% after 250 cycles at 1 C under 55 °C. These results demonstrate that the morphology of the MnCO3 precursor obtained by using the precipitation method has a significant influence on the crystal structure and electrochemical properties of resultant LiMn2O4. The work described here also shows a great potential in practical industrial applications aimed towards developing high performance LiMn2O4 electrode materials for lithium ion batteries.