Understanding the Solution Chemistry of Coprecipitation and the Homogeneity of the Precipitated Particle to Achieve Excellent Electrochemical Performance of Transition Metal Oxide Cathode Materials for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Abstract

Coprecipitation is a widely used method to synthesize multicomponent transition metal cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries. The major advantages of the coprecipitation method are the homogeneity of different transition metal ions within the precipitated particles, and the tunability of the particle morphology through control of the reaction conditions. In this poster, we will show our recent results related to the coprecipitation of precursors for lithium-ion active materials, as well as their conversion to cathode materials. Solution chemistry was chosen to achieve explicit control over particle composition, and a variety of characterization methods including electrochemical evaluation were utilized to demonstrate the structure and performance of the synthesized materials. As an example material, we will use high voltage spinel LiMn1.5Ni0.5O4 synthesized from manganese and nickel blend oxalate precursor. We will present insights into nucleation and particle growth processes during particle formation in the coprecipitation reaction. We will also demonstrate the level of homogeneity that coprecipitation is able to achieve relative to traditional solid-state methods.