Adipic acid assisted sol–gel synthesis of Li2MnSiO4 nanoparticles with improved lithium storage properties

Abstract

An adipic acid assisted sol–gel route was employed to prepare phase pure Li2MnSiO4 under the optimized conditions. Powder X-ray diffraction measurements confirm the formation of orthorhombic Li2MnSiO4 with Pmn21 space group. The oxidation state of Mn(II) was confirmed by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) studies. FTIR study was conducted to ensure the formation of a tetrahedral SiO4 group. Morphological features confirmed the appearance of evenly dispersed Li2MnSiO4 spherical nanoparticles with size of ∼30 nm. The Li/Li2MnSiO4 cell was constructed to study the electrochemical performance of Li2MnSiO4 nanoparticles and the cell delivers a stable discharge capacity profile (∼125 mAh g−1) for observed 50 cycles.