Solid State Ionics 177 (2006) 1347 – 1353
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Oxidation state of vanadium in amorphous MnV2O6 formed during
discharge–charge cycle and the improvement of its synthesis condition
Takahiro Morishita a , Hidetaka Konno b , Yasuo Izumi c , Michio Inagaki a,⁎aFaculty of Engineering, Aichi Institute of Technology, Yakusa, Toyota 470-0392, Japan
Laboratory Advanced Materials Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8628, Japanc
Tokyo Institute of Technology, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Nagatsuta 4529, Midori-ku, Yokohama 226-8502, Japanb

Received 17 March 2006; received in revised form 15 May 2006; accepted 27 May 2006

Abstract
Crystalline powders of anhydrous MnV2O6 were successfully synthesized at a temperature below 200 °C under autogenous hydrothermal
condition. MnV2O6 powders, which were synthesized using high concentration solutions, more than 0.1 mol/L, gave a relatively high reversible
capacity of 600 mA h/g and interesting cyclic performance, reversible capacity increasing to more than an initial charge capacity after the 3rd or
4th cycle of charge–discharge. The change in oxidation state of V ion on the course of the 1st discharge–charge process was investigated bydifferent techniques, such as XAFS and XPS. During discharging, V5+ was found to change gradually to V4+, but it returned back completely to
V5+ on charging process. The thinner particles of MnV2O6 crystals with rod-like morphology were synthesized at 135 °C, and much better anodic
performance was achieved, much smaller irreversible capacity as about 300 mA h/g, stable reversible capacity as 600 mA h/g, and 100%
Coulombic efficiency.
© 2006 Published by Elsevier B.V.
Keywords: Lithium ion secondary batteries; Manganese vanadate; Anode; Hydrothermal synthesis

1. Introduction
Lithium ion rechargeable batteries have high current andpower densities in comparison with other rechargeable batteries,
such as lead, nickel cadmium and nickel hydrogen batteries [1].
Commercial cells of lithium ion rechargeable batteries havedeveloped by selecting suitable electrode materials in bothcathode and anode, such as LiCoO2 and graphite, respectively[2]. However, there are still strong demands to have better
performance of batteries, high power and high rate charge–
discharge process [3].
Manganese vanadate MnV2O6 with brannerite structure wasproposed to be used for the anode of lithium ion rechargeable
batteries [4] and then studied on its preparation, structure andanodic performance by different groups [5–10]. Anhydrous
crystalline powders of MnV2O6 were synthesized through solidstate reaction between Mn2O3 and V2O5 [5], but nonstoichio⁎ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: ina@aitech.ac.jp (M. Inagaki).
0167-2738/$ - see front matter © 2006 Published by Elsevier B.V.
doi:10.1016/j.ssi.2006.05.035

metric composition of manganese vanadate was required inorder to have anodic activity [4]. The synthesis of hydrous
manganese vanadate powders were performed by coprecipitation from aqueous solutions of Mn(NO3)2 and NaVO3 [6,7]. In
order to have anodic activity in lithium ion rechargeable
batteries, anhydrous manganese vanadate had to be obtained by
the heat treatment of these hydrous manganese vanadate
powders, but a relatively low anodic activity, low capacity
and low Coulombic efficiency, was obtained [4]. In order toimprove anodic activity of these powders, their ozonation was
proposed [6]. The preparation of anhydrous manganese
vanadate was also reported through the heat treatment of
aqueous gels containing manganese and vanadium ions with apolymer at 400 °C [8].
In our previous papers [9,10], anhydrous manganese
vanadate powders were successfully synthesized under autogenous hydrothermal condition and also through coprecipitation process under normal pressure. Some of manganese
vanadate powders synthesized were found to have relatively
high capacity as 600–700 mA h/g and an interesting charge–

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discharge performance, reversible capacity increasing to morethan the initial charge capacity after the 3rd or 4th cycle. These
powders were synthesized from a high concentration solution ofmanganese acetate, higher than 0.1 mol/L, with the dispersionof vanadium pentoxide and characterized by strong 110
diffraction peak, relative to other peaks, and by thin rode-likemorphology. In order to understand and to improve the anode
performance of these powders, it was strongly desired to know
the changes in oxidation state of cations, Mn and V, during
charge–discharge process. However, the starting crystalline
manganese vanadate was found to change to amorphous one
even after the first cycle of charge–discharge, which made us tounderstand the changes in oxidation state of cations difficult.
In the present work, therefore, XPS and XAFS measurements were performed on the powders sampled on the course ofdischarge and charge processes in a test cell of lithium ion
rechargeable batteries and oxidation states of manganese andvanadium ions were discussed. These experimental results were
fed back to the synthesis under hydrothermal condition and themanganese vanadate powders with better performance weresuccessfully obtained.
2. Experimental
2.1. Synthesis of manganese vanadate powders
The starting materials used were reagent grade manganese
acetate [Mn(CH3COO)2·4H2O, 99.0% purity, Nakalai TesqueLtd.] and vanadium pentoxide [V2O5, 99.99% purity, High
Purity Chemicals Ltd.]. Preparation of manganese vanadate
powder was carried out by following procedures; aqueous
solutions of Mn(CH3COO)2 and V2O5 were mixed to be the V/
Mn molar ratio of 2 and metal ion concentration was controlled
to be 0.1 mol/L, where undissolved V2O5 particles weresuspended and the pH value was kept at about 4.0. The mixed
solution of 18 mL was taken into a 25-mL container of Teflonlined stainless steel. After sealing the container, it was heatedeither at 200 °C for 5 h or at 135 °C for 1 h with constantrotation of 10 rpm. After this treatment, the precipitates formed
were recovered by washing, centrifuging and drying. The
detailed procedure for the synthesis of manganese vanadate wasreported in our previous paper [9].
The crystal structure of the precipitates thus obtained was
examined by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD: Rigaku RINT2500) with CuKα radiation. Morphology of the powder wasobserved from transmission electron microscope (TEM: JEOL
JEM-2010) with acceleration voltage of 200 kV.
2.2. Anodic performance for lithium ion rechargeable batteries
The electrode to determine anodic performance was preparedby mixing the sample manganese vanadate powder withacetylene black as an electric conductor and polyvinylidene
difluoride (PVDF) as a binder in a mass ratio of 70:20:10, andpasting on a thin film of Ni. Li metal was used as counterelectrode. The electrolyte solution was the mixture of ethylene
carbonate (EC) and diethyl carbonate (DEC) in equal volume

ratio, in which 1 mol/L LiClO4 was dissolved. The anodic
performance was determined in the range of potential at 0.0–
2.5 V with a current density of 50 mA/g at room temperature ina glove box filled with Ar gas. Discharge and charge cycles
were usually performed up to 10th, except up to 50th to check if
cyclic performance for the sample renewed its synthesis
conditions. The details on the preparation of anode and thetest cell used were reported in our previous paper [10].
2.3. X-ray absorption fine structure analysis and X-ray
photoelectron spectroscopy
In order to understand the changes in oxidation state of
vanadium and manganese ions during lithium ion insertion(discharge) and de-insertion (charge) into the manganese
vanadate electrode, the anode materials were sampled out atdifferent stages in the 1st cycle of discharge–charge processwith a constant current density of 50 mA/g. X-ray absorption
fine structure analysis (XAFS: synchrotron radiation facilities of
Photon Factory in High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, Tsukuba) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS:VG ESCALAB MkII) were used for this purpose.
When the potential of the cell reached down to either 0.7 or
0.0 V during discharge process and up to 0.7 and 2.5 V during
charge process, the current being supplied was cut down andthen the anode was picked out from the cell in a glove box of Ar
atmosphere. The anode material thus obtained was packed into aplastic bag with the electrolyte solution under vacuum. For
XAFS measurement, the sample either packed into a plastic bag
or picked out just before measurement was used. Just before
XPS measurement, the samples were separated from electrolyte
solution by evacuating at room temperature for 12 h.
From XAFS measurement, vanadium K-edge absorption
spectra were measured at 290 K in transmission mode at thebeam line 12C of the storage ring operated at 2.5 GeV and thecurrent of 290–400 mA. XPS measurements were carried out atlower than − 150 °C to avoid possible changes of oxidation stateby X-ray irradiation (Mg Kα, 14 kV, 20 mA) in vacuum.
Although the spectrometer was calibrated correctly using Au 4f
peaks, the binding energy (EB) values obtained in the present
work were not very accurate due to large charge-up shifts:
binding energy correction was carried out by using C 1s peakfor PVDF and O 1s peak for oxide ion. Accordingly, thechemical states were mainly evaluated by the differences in EB
between major peaks and the spectrum profiles including
position and splitting of satellite peaks. X-ray satellites weresubtracted and peak separation was done only for s orbital peaks
by using Gaussian/Lorentzian product functions as described
previously [11].
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Manganese vanadate synthesized
For the sample manganese vanadate powder synthesized at
200 °C under hydrothermal condition, XRD pattern, morphology under TEM and cyclic performance for discharge–charge inT. Morishita et al. / Solid State Ionics 177 (2006) 1347–1353

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Fig. 3. Cyclic performance of manganese vanadate synthesized at 200 °C.

Fig. 1. X-ray powder diffraction patterns of manganese vanadate synthesized at
200 °C.

lithium ion rechargeable batteries are shown in Figs. 1a–c,
respectively. The powder obtained was crystalline, a single
phase of brannerite structure. Strong 110 diffraction peak (Fig.
1a) and rod-like morphology (Fig. 2a) are characteristics ofinteresting cyclic performance, a sudden increase in capacity
after the 4th cycle, as shown in Fig. 3. The same cycling
performance was observed and discussed in our previous papers[9,10], strongly depending on the synthesis conditions andbeing characterized by strong 110 diffraction peak in XRD
pattern.
3.2. Oxidation state of vanadium ions
On this manganese vanadate powder synthesized at 200 °C,
its crystalline structure and rod-like morphology were lost andbecame amorphous, even after the 1st cycle of discharge–
charge, as reported previously [9,10]. XRD patterns of thepowders after the 1st discharge–charge cycle and also the 10th
cycle are shown in Fig. 1b and c, respectively. The diffraction
peaks for brannerite structure were broadened and weakened. It
was difficult to identify the peaks, even after the 1st cycle andthey disappeared completely after the 10th cycle. The peaks due
to Ni film and probably due to PVDF binder used were often
observed because these XRD patterns were measured on thefilms used as electrode during insertion (discharge) and deinsertion (charge) in the electrolyte. In the TEM photograph, theparticles with irregular shapes were observed, as shown in Fig.
2b, which were supposed to be in amorphous state because of
no diffraction spots in electron diffraction pattern shown as an
inserted figure in Fig. 2b.
On four powders which were discharged down to 0.7 and
0.0 V and also re-charged up to 0.7 and 2.5 V on the courseof the 1st discharge–charge cycle, the spectra of XAFS and
XPS were measured using the films containing carbon blackand binder PVDF, and compared with those observed on assynthesized powder, without any electrochemical treatment.

Fig. 2. Transmission electron microscope images of manganese vanadate synthesized at 200 °C: (a) as-prepared crystalline powders and (b) after 1st discharge process.

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V k-edge XAFS spectra at around absorption edge of vanadium
were shown in Fig. 4a for the sample powders on the way ofdischarging, together with those for the references, i.e., V2O4
and V2O5 in which the oxidation state of the vanadium ions was
4+ and 5+, respectively, and in Fig. 4b for the sample powders
on the way to charging. From the comparison of the shapes ofabsorption edge in XAFS spectra, especially based on theabsorption edge energy, the starting manganese vanadate wasfound to contain V5+. On the other hand, the powders on theway of discharging (discharged down to 0.7 and 0.0 V) werereasonably supposed to contain V4+. The content of reduced ion
V4+ seemed to be higher in the latter case than in the former(Fig. 4a). On re-charging, the spectra became similar to that for
V2O5 relatively quickly with increasing voltage to 0.7 and then
2.5 V (Fig. 4b). The powders on re-charging up to 0.7 V seems
to contain a little higher concentration of V5+ than those ondischarging down to 0.7 V, as shown in Fig. 4b.
The XPS spectra of Mn and V are shown for the specimens
as-prepared, discharged down to 0.7 and 0.0 V, and charged up

Fig. 5. XPS spectra of Mn 2p (a) and 3s (b) for the specimens as-prepared anddischarge down to 0.7 and 0.0 V, and charged up to 2.5 V.

Fig. 4. V K-edge XAFS spectra of manganese vanadate powders: (a) the
powders as-synthesized and discharged down to 0.7 and 0.0 V, with thereferences V2O4 and V2O5; and (b) the powders charged up to 0.7 and 2.5 V.

to 2.5 V in Figs. 5 and 6, respectively. It is evident from theprofile of spectrum and the position of satellite peak for the asprepared specimen that manganese ions in the specimen at open
circuit potential are divalent [12]. This is well supported by thesatellite splitting of Mn 3s peak for this specimen, 6.2 eV, as
shown in Fig. 5b, since manganese species of lower valence
give a splitting smaller than 5.5 eV [12,13]. The binding energy(EB) difference between Mn 2p3/2 and V 2p3/2 (ΔEB[Mn − V])
was 123.9 eV for this specimen. These features on the spectra of
Mn and V ions are distinguished for the specimens atdischarged down to 0.0 V and charged up to 2.5 V in Figs. 5aand 6a, although they are ambiguous for the discharged
specimen at 0.7 V. It should be noted here that it is unreasonable
to evaluate the splitting smaller than 6 eV in Fig. 5a irrespective

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1351

may have some errors due to the charge-up correction and thecalculation for peak separation, but reasonably agree with thoseof V(IV) and V(V) states [14]. Incidentally, FWHM of V 3s
spectrum was 3.86 eV for the as prepared specimen and 3.80 eV
for the specimen charged up to 2.5 V. The results by XPS wereconsistent with those by XAFS (Fig. 4) described above.
From XAFS and XPS analyses, the oxidation state of
vanadium ions in manganese vanadate was supposed to change
from 5+ in as-synthesized powder to 4+ in the powderdischarged down to 0.0 V, and by charging it returned from 4+
to 5+. It had to be pointed out that the reduction of vanadium
ion from 5+ to 4+ seemed not to be completed by the firstdischarge process, but its oxidation state with 4+, which wasformed by the previous reduction process, seemed to be reoxidized to 5+ completely.

Fig. 6. XPS spectra of V 2p for the specimens as-prepared and discharge down to
0.7 and 0.0 V, and charged up to 2.5 V (a) and that of V 3s for the specimen
discharged down to 0.7 V (b).

of noisy spectra. The ΔEB[Mn − V] values for 0.7 and 0.0 V
specimens were 125.4 eV and 124.6 eV, and for the 2.5 V
specimen it decreased again to 124.1 eV, which is almost thesame with the value for as-prepared (123.9 eV). This change isunderstandable by considering that only the valence of
vanadium ion decreases with Li+ ion insertion, since it has
been reported that EB[V 2p3/2] for V2O4 is about 1 eV lower
than that of V2O5 [14].
The formation of V(IV) state is verified by V 3s spectrum
shown in Fig. 6b for the discharged specimen down to 0.7 V.
The spectrum is broad (FWHM = 4.2 eV) for single component
V 3s spectrum, and can be separated into two components(FWHM = 3.65 eV) at 69.0 eV and 70.8 eV. These EB values

Fig. 7. Manganese vanadate powder synthesized at 135 °C: (a) XRD pattern and(b) TEM image.

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is relatively high, almost 100%, in comparison with the previous
powder (Fig. 3). Also it has to be pointed out that discharge andcharge capacities decrease slightly and quickly saturate bycycling. The capacity leveled off is 600 mA h/g.
The results on newly synthesized powder proved thatthinner crystal of manganese vanadate is desirable. In order to
get high anodic performance of manganese vanadate; therefore, low temperature synthesis under hydrothermal conditionis necessary.
4. Conclusions

Fig. 8. Cyclic performance of manganese vanadate powder synthesized at
135 °C.

3.3. Renewal of the synthesis of manganese vanadate powder
and its anodic performance
Most of the electrochemical reactions occurred at theinterfaces between the electrode material and the electrolyte,
and proceeded into the inside of the electrode material. In thepresent work, lithium insertion into manganese vanadate isreasonably supposed to proceed slowly from the surface of its
crystals, which may be suggested by the results of XPS analysis
that the change in oxidation state of vanadium ions seemed not
to be completed even after discharging down to 0.0 V in the firstcycle, though XPS gave the information on the surface of thecrystals. In other words, the crystals of the present manganese
vanadate may be too large to complete the reduction of
vanadium ions in the crystals during the first discharge process.
This supposition seems to agree with the experimental facts thatmanganese vanadate electrode shows very high irreversible
capacity and that the powder synthesized at 200 °C in thepresent work needs few discharge–charge cycles to reachstability. To improve this cyclic performance in manganese
vanadate electrode, much thinner crystals were tried to besynthesized.
The powder of crystalline manganese vanadate wassynthesized once again under hydrothermal condition, at alower temperature for a shorter time than the case described
before (Section 3.1), i.e., at 135 °C for 1 h, other conditions
being kept the same as before. XRD pattern and TEM image ofthe powder thus synthesized are shown in Fig. 7a and b,
respectively. XRD pattern of the powder (Fig. 7a) shows astrong 110 diffraction peak, as before (Fig. 1a) and particle
morphology is rod-like, but much thinner than before(compared to Fig. 2a).
On the film formed from the powder newly synthesized,
discharge–charge cycles were performed up to 50 cycles underexactly the same procedure as before. Cyclic performanceobtained is shown in Fig. 8. Discharge capacity at the 1st cycle isnot so high, but charge capacity is relatively high (about 70% of
discharge capacity), in other words, irreversible capacity isrelatively small, as about 300 mA h/g, and Coulombic efficiency

Manganese vanadate crystals, which were synthesized under
autogenous hydrothermal condition at 200 °C for 5 h and had
rod-like morphology, were changed to amorphous state by the
1st cycle of discharge (insertion of lithium) and charge (deinsertion of lithium) in lithium ion rechargeable batteries. FromXAFS and XPS measurements on the samples discharged andcharged to different stages in the 1st cycle, vanadium ions wereconfirmed to change partly from V5+ in the as-synthesized
MnV2O6 to V4+ after being discharged down to 0.0 V and toreturn quickly to V5+ during charging. Based on the experimental results on the change in oxidation state of V ions, thinnerrod-like particles of MnV2O6 were synthesized under much
mild conditions than before, i.e., at 135 °C for 1 h, and theygave much better anodic performance, much smaller irreversible capacity as 300 mA h/g, stable reversible capacity as
600 mA h/g and 100% Coulombic efficiency.
On manganese vanadate, in the present work, a highreversible capacity with a relatively small irreversible capacity
was obtained by changing the synthesis condition. However,many problems are still remained to be solved; where lithium
ions are inserting in amorphous manganese vanadate, why thecapacity can go to 600–700 mA/g, why crystalline manganese
vanadate changes to amorphous state during the first discharge
process, etc.
Acknowledgement
The present work was partly supported by a grant of the
Frontier Research Project “Materials for the 21st Century –Materials Development for Environment, Energy and Information” from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Scienceand Technology. The XAFS experiments were performed
under the approval of the Photon Factory Proposal Committee(2002G 284).
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