Characteristics of Mg-based cathode materials with different doping element concentrations

Mg batteries are one of several new battery technologies that have a potential to replace lithium-based batteries in the future due to its advantages such as low cost, environmentally friendly and improved safety. However, the development of Mg batteries has been greatly hindered by the sluggish Mg ions migration kinetics in the solid state. In this work, self-propagating combustion was used to produce Ca-doped MgMn₂O₄ based cathode materials with two distinct Ca compositions: MgMn_2-xCa_xO₄ (x ​= ​0.1, 0.2, 0.3) and MgMn_2-yCa_yO₄ (y ​= ​0.01, 0.02, 0.03) at annealing temperature of 800 ​°C. The structural properties have been characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM). The elemental distribution was determined using Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy. The electrochemical performances were also been evaluated by linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), and cyclic voltammetry (CV). The galvanostatic charge/discharge of Mg ion cells using 1 ​M of magnesium trifluoromethanesulfonate (Mg (CF₃SO₃)₂) in 1:1 volume of ethylene carbonate (EC) and 1,2-dimethoxyethane (DME) has been performed. The charge-discharge results demonstrated the cathode with a low Ca composition, MgMn_1.97Ca_0.03O₄, had delivered the highest capacity of 144 mAh g⁻¹.