Facile flameless combustion synthesis of high-performance boron-doped LiMn2O4 cathode with a truncated octahedra

A single crystal truncated octahedral boron-doped LiMn2O4 with {111} and {100} surfaces was synthesized by using a facile flameless combustion method. The inherent spinel structure of the LiMn2O4 has no change after boron-doping. The boron-doping also promotes the preferential growth of (400) crystal facet that corresponds to the {100} plane orientation. Owing to the merits of boron-doping and truncated octahedra, the as-prepared LiMn1.96B0.04O4 delivers the high electrochemical performance with discharge capacity of 124.9 mAh/g and capacity retention of 94.2% after 180 cycles at 1 C under 25 °C. Moreover, the LiMn1.96B0.04O4 not only exhibits a discharge capacity of 112.2 mAh/g at 5 C but also maintains a capacity retention of 85.8% after 200 cycles at 10 C. Even at 1 C under 55 °C, the high initial discharge capacity of 121.2 mAh/g and capacity retention of 89.12% are also obtained after 100 cycles. The work puts forward a facile synthesis approach for the high-performance lithium ion batteries using the boron-doped spinel LiMn2O4 as a cathode material.