The lithiation/de-lithiation behavior of a ternary oxide (Li2MO3, where M = Mo or Ru) is examined. In the first lithiation, the metal oxide (MO2) component in Li2MO3 is lithiated by a conversion reaction to generate nano-sized metal (M) particles and two equivalents of Li2O. As a result, one idling Li2O equivalent is generated from Li2MO3. In the de-lithiation period, three equivalents of Li2O react with M to generate MO3. The first-cycle Coulombic efficiency is theoretically 150 since the initial Li2MO3 takes four Li~+ ions and four electrons per formula unit, whereas the M component is oxidized to MO3 by releasing six Li~+ ions and six electrons. In practice, the first-cycle Coulombic efficiency is less than 150 owing to an irreversible charge consumption for electrolyte decomposition. The as-generated MO3 is lithiated/de-lithiated from the second cycle with excellent cycle performance and rate capability.
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