Determination of the potential range responsible for the replacement of surface film on LiMn₂O₄

This study determined the potential range where the dissolution of a surface film on a thin film LiMn₂O₄ electrode, which forms during electrode synthesis, and the formation of a new surface film during cycling at room temperature using an in situ bending beam method (BBM) and an in situ electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM) technique with cyclic voltammetry and a galvanostatic charge/discharge cycle. The electrolytes used were LiClO₄/EC-DEC, LiClO₄/PC and LiPF₆/EC-DMC. The deflectogram and massogram showed large peaks during the anodic scan only in the first cycle. These phenomena, were observed regardless of the electrolytes and scan rate used. The tensile strain and the mass reduction in the early stage of the strain peak and the mass peak are related to the dissolution of the initial surface film. In addition, the compressive strain and the mass increase are related to the formation of a new surface film during cycling. The potential ranges where the formation of the new surface film begins ranged from 4.03 to 4.1 V, which appears to terminate at the end of the first anodic scan, and was also observed during the galvanostatic charge/discharge cycle in the same potential range.