Sol-Gel Synthesis of Silicon-Doped Lithium Manganese Oxide with Enhanced Reversible Capacity and Cycling Stability

A series of silicon-doped lithium manganese oxides were obtained via a sol-gel process. XRD characterization results indicate that the silicon-doped samples retain the spinel structure of LiMn(2)O(4). Electrochemical tests show that introducing silicon ions into the spinel structure can have a great effect on reversible capacity and cycling stability. When cycled at 0.5 C, the optimal Si-doped LiMn(2)O(4) can exhibit a pretty high initial capacity of 140.8 mAh g(−1) with excellent retention of 91.1% after 100 cycles, which is higher than that of the LiMn(2)O(4), LiMn(1.975)Si(0.025)O(4), and LiMn(1.925)Si(0.075)O(4) samples. Moreover, the optimal Si-doped LiMn(2)O(4) can exhibit 88.3 mAh g(−1) with satisfactory cycling performance at 10 C. These satisfactory results are mainly contributed by the more regular and increased MnO(6) octahedra and even size distribution in the silicon-doped samples obtained by sol-gel technology.