title: MnO nanoparticles embedded in a carbon matrix as high performance lithium-ion battery anodes: preparation, microstructure and electrochemistry.
abstract: Nano-sized MnO intimately embedded in a porous carbon matrix has been synthesized by a facile method in which the manganese-salts/glycerol sol was used as the precursor. The glycerol plays roles of the chelating agent, the carbon source and the solvent. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman results indicate that the carbon layer may have an obvious effect on the microstructure of MnO. The first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations further reveal a considerable charge transfer from MnO to the carbon, leading to a decrease of lattice parameters of MnO and the bond length of Mn-O in the MnO/C composite. The modified microstructure could improve electrochemical performance and meanwhile may explain the phenomenon of exceeding the theoretical capacity. The prepared MnO/C nanocomposite as an anode material displays superior Li-battery performance with a large reversible capacity, excellent cyclic performance and good rate capability.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, P. R. China. wlwang@ustc.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Shaojun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Dongming
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Wen-Lou
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Wang