LAUSR

Summary Anionic redox reaction (ARR) in lithium- and sodium-ion batteries is under hot discussion, mainly regarding how oxygen anion participates and to what extent oxygen can be reversibly oxidized and reduced. Here, a P3-type Na 0.6 [Li 0.2 Mn 0.8 ]O 2 with reversible capacity from pure ARR was studied. The interlayer O-O distance (peroxo-like O-O dimer, 2.506(3) A), associated with oxidization of oxygen anions, was directly detected by using a neutron total scattering technique. Different from Li 2 RuO 3 or Li 2 IrO 3 with strong metal-oxygen (M-O) bonding, for P3-type Na 0.6 [Li 0.2 Mn 0.8 ]O 2 with relatively weak Mn-O covalent bonding, crystal structure factors might play an even more important role in stabilizing the oxidized species, as both Li and Mn ions are immobile in the structure and thus may inhibit the irreversible transformation of the oxidized species to O 2 gas.