Nanostructured Manganese Oxide from Ghana's Manganese Ore for Lithium-Ion Battery Anode

Abstract

The manganese ore deposit, which is one of the precious minerals mined in Ghana is valued at 42.5 million tons in 2014. The development of this mineral in Ghana is reduced to mining, crushing, categorization, and finally export. This brings little foreign exchange to the country since the oxide or carbonate of manganese in its natural state is of relatively little commercial importance. Treating and converting this manganese deposit into metal or other more valuable manganese-based products will improve the commercial value and subsequently enhance Ghana’s economy via job creation and foreign exchange. In this study, we synthesized nanostructured manganese oxide from naturally occurring Ghanaian manganese oxide-containing ore through a mild acid leaching process. The Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) image showed well-developed porous structures on the surface of the synthesized nanostructured manganese oxide particles. The electrochemical properties of the synthesized manganese oxide used in lithium-ion battery demonstrated an initial discharge capacity of 1550 mAh/g and retained about 76% of the discharged capacity after the 5th discharge cycle from the 2nd discharge cycle. The cycle performance showed better stability after the 13th cycle and after the 27th cycle, the cell retained about 38% of the discharged capacity from the 2nd discharge cycle. From the above results, it can be concluded that synthesized nanostructured manganese oxide from Ghana’s manganese ore stands the chance of being utilized as anode material in lithium-ion batteries but further studies and modification would be needed to enhance its performance.