Hydrothermal synthesis of LiNixCo1−xO2 cathode materials

Ultrafine powders of LiCoO2, nonstoichiometric LiNiO2 and LiNi0.9Co0.1O2 were prepared under mild hydrothermal conditions. The influence of the molar ratio of Li/Co, Li/Ni and Li/(Ni + Co) was studied. The final products were investigated by XRD, TEM and EDS. To synthesize a stoichiometric LiNiO2 under mild hydrothermal conditions was found to be a big challenge. Transmission electron microscopies (TEM) revealed the formation of well-crystallized LiCoO2 and LiNi0.9Co0.1O2 with average size of 100 nm and 10 nm, respectively.