Duracell Inc.

Paul Gionet

William L Bowden

Enoch I Wang

A method of making lithium manganese oxide of spinel structure is disclosed. The method involves the step of prelithiating a manganese oxide by reacting it with lithium hydroxide or lithium salt and then reacting the prelithiated manganese oxide in a second step at elevated temperature to form a lithium manganese oxide spinel. In a specific embodiment manganese dioxide powder is reacted with lithium hydroxide to prelithiate the manganese dioxide and the prelithiated manganese dioxide is separated from the reaction mixture and heated and reacted with lithium carbonate at elevated temperature to convert it to lithium manganese oxide spinel. The spinel product may be used advantageously in secondary (rechargeable) batteries.

Method of preparation of lithium manganese oxide spinel

The invention relates to the manufacture of manganese dioxide by a chemical process. The resulting manganese dioxide product takes the form of particles characterized by filament-like protrusions jutting out from its surface. The manganese dioxide particles having such surface features can be manufactured by reacting manganese sulfate with sodium peroxodisulfate in an aqueous solution. The process can be controlled to yield manganese dioxide of varying density and surface area. The manganese dioxide formed in the process can be deposited directly onto the surface of electrolytic manganese dioxide (EMD) or onto the surface of other particles. The manganese dioxide product is particularly suitable for use as a cathode active material in electrochemical cells.

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Lowell, MA, United States of America

Paul Gionet