Increased lithium capacity of defective oxide materials and methods for
preparation are described herein. Point defects may be introduced into a
metal oxide to increase its lithium ion capacity. Defective metal oxides
can be prepared by heating the metal oxide under O.sub.2/H.sub.2O at
elevated temperatures. These increased lithium capacity metal oxides may
be suitable for use as high specific energy cathodes in lithium metal and
lithium ion batteries.