A layered lithium nickel manganese oxide as environmentally friendly cathode material for secondary batteries

Abstract

Cobalt-free cathode material development is considered necessity to assure the sustainability of Li-ion batteries. Cobalt is always considered expensive and unsafe for both human and environment. LiNi_0.5Mn_0.5O₂ (LNMO) is a layer structured cathode material that has similar feature to LiCoO₂ (LCO). A simple and fast processing of LNMO is proposed. A precipitation of nickel manganese oxalate was obtained in a batch reactor under atmospheric condition. The as-obtained homogenous oxalate precursor was converted to LNMO via high temperature lithiation. Based on the XRD result, a crystalline product with layer structure is successfully obtained. The presence of impurities such as residual Li can be detected from the FTIR spectra. SEM Images confirmed quasi-spherical particles with grain size of less than 10 micrometer. The charge-discharge analysis of LNMO containing cell deliver a capacity of 42 mAh/g. In spite of its promising report, continuous improvement is necessary to obtain cell with better electrochemical performance.