Manganese metaphosphate Mn(PO3)2 as a high‐performance negative electrode material for lithium‐ion batteries

Abstract

We report a novel negative conversion electrode material, manganese (II) metaphosphate Mn(PO3)2. This compound can be synthesized by a facile solid-state method, and after carbon-coating delivers an attractively high reversible capacity of 477 mAh/g at 0.1 C and 385 mAh/g at 1 C. We investigated the reaction mechanism with a combination of ex situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy, in situ X-ray diffraction, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. We observed a direct conversion process by monitoring the first discharge in operando, in which Mn(PO3)2 reacts with Li to give fusiform Mn nanograins a few Ångstroms in width, embedded in a matrix of lithium conducting LiPO3 glass. Due to the fine nanostructures of the conversion products, this conversion reaction is completely reversible. © 1999-2021 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.