A new manganese vanadium oxide containing double sheets of V2O5 layers has been synthesized hydrothermally in the presence of tetramethylammonium ions. It has the electrochemically active delta-V2O5 structure, variants of which are found in V6O13 and xerogel vanadium oxides. The manganese ions, together with the N(CH3)(4) ions, reside in a disordered manner between the oxide sheets. The delta-type [N(CH3)(4)](z)MnyV2O5. nH(2)O has a monoclinic structure, a =11.66(2) Angstrom, b = 3.610(9) Angstrom, c = 13.91(4) Angstrom, beta = 108.8(2)degrees. It reacts readily with lithium with a capacity exceeding 220 mAh g(-1); the organic ions do not impede reaction as in the single sheet V2O5 materials, such as N(CH3)(4)V3O7. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.