Magnetic properties of LiNi0.5Mn0.47Al0.03O2 as positive electrode for Li-ion batteries

Abstract

The layered LiNi0.5Mn0.47Al0.03O2 was synthesized by wet chemical method and characterized by X-ray diffraction and analysis of magnetic measurements. The powders adopted the α-NaFeO2 structure. This substitution of Al for Mn promotes the formation of Li(Ni0.472+Ni0.033+Mn0.474+Al0.033+)O2 structures and induces an increase in the average oxidation state of Ni, thereby leading to the shrinkage of the lattice unit cell. The concentration of antisite defects in which Ni2+ occupies the (3a) Li lattice sites in the Wyckoff notation has been estimated from the ferromagnetic Ni2+(3a)–Mn4+(3b) pairing observed below 140 K. The substitution of 3% Al for Mn reduces the amount of antisite defects from 7% to 6.4–6.5%. The analysis of the magnetic properties in the paramagnetic phase in the framework of the Curie–Weiss law agrees well with the combination of Ni2+ (S = 1), Ni3+ (S = 1/2) and Mn4+ (S = 3/2) spin-only values. Delithiation has been made by the use of K2S2O8. According to this process, known to be softer than the electrochemical one, the nickel ions in the (3b) sites are converted into Ni4+ in the high spin configuration, while Ni2+(3a)–Mn4+(3b) ferromagnetic pairs remain, as the Li+(3b) ions linked to the Ni2+(3a) ions in the antisite defects are not removed. The results show that the antisite defect is surrounded by Mn4+ ions, implying the nonuniform distribution of the cations in agreement with previous NMR and neutron experiments.