Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
Composite powder of spinel LiMn2O4 and polypyrrole has been successfully prepared by injecting pyrrole into an HClO4 aqueous solution containing suspended LiMn2O4 powder which was used as an oxidizing agent for polymerization of pyrrole. The amount of LiMn2O4 in the composite increased with increasing the amount of the suspended oxide powder in the bath, whereas decrease in the amount of ClO4− dopant was observed. Charge-discharge tests of the resulting composite taken in a mixed solvent of propylene carbonate and 1,2-dimethoxyethane (1:1) containing 1 mol dm−3 LiClO4 revealed that polypyrrole of the composite worked well as an active material as well as a conducting network for the incorporated LiMn2O4 powder. Elemental analyses of the charged and discharged composites showed that Li+ cation alone was involved in the charge-discharge reactions of the LiMn2O4/PPy composite.