Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2011
This paper deals with: i) the growth of LiMn2O4 crystals by electrocrystallisation; ii) the response of these crystals in lithium cells; and iii) a method to follow their structural and morphological changes while working as electrodes. The defects present in LiMn2O4 crystals are determined after refining the occupation at every site of the spinel structure by single-crystal Xray diffraction analyses, which lead to define two possible paths for the process of Li deinsertion-insertion. It is shown how the crystals studied follow one of these paths during cycling of the battery by virtue of a dynamic mechanism consisting in Mn migrations cooperatively induced by Li insertion and extraction.