Hot topic of research today is to overcome the irreversible capacity loss (ICL) in high capacity anodes used in Li-ion battery. Several attempts have been exploited to overcome the ICL issue, but all of them involved time consuming and inevitable electrolyte decomposition. Here, we attempted to utilize the octahedral site of spinel cathode (ex. LiMn2O4) for the compensation of ICL when paired with conversion type anode, alpha-Fe2O3 nanorods. The performance of Li1.26Mn2O4/alpha-Fe2O3 nanorods cell is compared with similar configurations fabricated without any electrode treatment and alpha-Fe2O3 treated one. Amongst, LiMn2O4 treated assembly showed promising results as compared with anode treated configuration. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.