Molten salt synthesis and high-performance of nanocrystalline Li-rich cathode materials

Abstract

A nanocrystalline lithium-rich cathode material (Li[Li_0.26Ni_0.11Mn_0.63]O₂) has been prepared by a molten salt method. By using KCl–NaCl as the reaction media, the synthetic temperature can be reduced to 700 °C. The prepared material was investigated using XRD, SEM and galvanostatic charge–discharge cycling, and shows highly crystallized shapes with average particle sizes of 50–100 nm. Due to its low dimensional, highly-crystalline and regularly shaped layered structure, the cathode material exhibits greatly improved capability and cycling performance when compared with the pristine cathode.