Sol-gel Synthesis of Li2MnSiO4/C Nanocomposite with Improved Electrochemical Performance for Lithium-ion Batteries

In recent years, modifying anode materials surfaces of Li2MnSiO4 become a popular pursuit. This paper reveals a fast sol-gel process that the Li2MnSiO4 in situ coated with carbon membrane prepared using liquid polyacrylonitrile (LPAN) as the carbon source. The structure and micro-morphology of the as-prepared Li2MnSiO4 and Li2MnSiO4/C nanocomposite were characterized by thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The electrochemical properties of the as-prepared Li2MnSiO4 and Li2MnSiO4/C nanocomposite were evaluated cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge/discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The results showed that Li2MnSiO4/C have a good electrochemical performance and the Li2MnSiO4 coated with a calcined 10 wt% LPAN carbon membrane insitu reached 225.6 mAh g(-1) at room temperature. It is more than one electron (1.36Li(+)) transfer during the intercalation/deintercalation process, corresponding to 68% of its theoretical two-electron redox capacity (330 mAh g(-1)).