Layered lithium cobalt oxide, a key element of lithium-ion batteries, has been synthesized at temperatures as little as 300°C and durations as quick as half-hour.
Lithium ion batteries (LIB) are essentially the most generally used kind of battery in shopper electronics and electrical automobiles. Lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2) is the compound used for the cathode in LIB for handheld electronics. Historically, the synthesis of this compound requires temperatures over 800°C and takes 10 to twenty hours to finish.
A group of researchers at Hokkaido College and Kobe College, led by Professor Masaki Matsui at Hokkaido College’s School of Science, have developed a brand new methodology to synthesize lithium cobalt oxide at temperatures as little as 300°C and durations as quick as half-hour. Their findings have been printed within the journal Inorganic Chemistry.
“Lithium cobalt oxide can usually be synthesized in two varieties,” Matsui explains. “One type is layered rocksalt construction, known as the high-temperature section, and the opposite type is spinel-framework construction, known as the low-temperature section. The layered LiCoO2 is utilized in Li-ion batteries.”
Utilizing cobalt hydroxide and lithium hydroxide as beginning supplies, with sodium or potassium hydroxide as an additive, the group performed a collection of high-precision experiments beneath various situations to synthesize layered LiCoO2 crystals. The method was known as the “hydroflux course of.” They have been additionally capable of decide the response pathway that led to the formation of the layered crystals.
“By understanding the response pathway, we have been capable of establish the elements that promoted the crystal progress of layered LiCoO2,” Matsui mentioned. “Particularly, the presence of water molecules within the beginning supplies considerably improved crystallinity of the top product.”
The group additionally measured the electrochemical properties of the layered LiCoO2, exhibiting that they have been solely marginally inferior to that of commercially accessible LiCoO2 synthesized by the standard excessive temperature methodology.
“This work is the primary experimental demonstration of the thermochemical stability of layered LiCoO2 at low temperatures beneath ambient stress,” concludes Matsui. “Our growth of this hydroflux course of will allow power saving measures in numerous ceramic manufacturing processes. Our speedy subsequent steps would be the enchancment of the hydroflux course of based mostly on our understanding of the response pathway.”
