Low-Temperature Carbon Coating of Nanosized Li_1.015Al_0.06Mn_1.925O₄ and High-Density Electrode for High-Power Li-Ion Batteries

Despite their good intrinsic rate capability, nanosized spinel cathode materials cannot fulfill the requirement of high electrode density and volumetric energy density. Standard carbon coating cannot be applied on spinel materials due to the formation of oxygen defects during the high-temperature annealing process. To overcome these problems, here we present a composite material consisting of agglomerated nanosized primary particles and well-dispersed acid-treated Super P carbon black powders, processed below 300 °C. In this structure, primary particles provide fast lithium ion diffusion in solid state due to nanosized diffusion distance. Furthermore, uniformly dispersed acid-treated Super P (ASP) in secondary particle facilitates lower charge transfer resistance and better percolation of electron. The ASPLMO material shows superior rate capability, delivering 101 mAh g^-1 at 300 C-rate at 24 °C, and 75 mAh g^-1 at 100 C-rate at 10 °C. Even after 5000 cycles, 86 mAh g^-1 can be achieved at 30 C-rate at 24 °C, demonstrating very competitive full-cell performance.