Investigation of electrochemical performance of montmorillonite clay as Li-ion battery electrode

The intercalation of Li⁺ ions into layer structured compounds montmorillonite (MMT) clay was investigated. It is demonstrated that the interlayer water acting as ion transportation channel could affect the electrochemical performance. Before and after dehydration, initial capacities of 95 mAh g⁻¹ and 105 mAh g⁻¹ at current density of 0.5 A g⁻¹ were recorded, respectively. Similar capacity changing trends in electrochemical cycle performance was observed before and after dehydration. Both cycle profiles could be divided into three zones: the capacity decrease zone I (1–40 cycles), the capacity increase zone II (40–400 cycles) and the stabilized capacity zone III (>400 cycles). Before and after dehydration reversible capacities of 80 and 36 mAh g⁻¹ was recorded at 1000 cycle at current density of 0.2 A g⁻¹, respectively. The interlayer water facilitates faster ion transfer and better kinetics in the MMT electrode. This work indicates that MMT clay could be a promising material in lithium ion battery application.