Electrochemical characteristics of LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 powders prepared from microwave-hydrothermally derived precursors

The influence of the preparation conditions in the microwave-hydrothermal process in the morphology and electrochemical properties of LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 powders was investigated in this study. When the microwave radiation temperature was raised from 100 °C to 180 °C, the particles exhibited a less-agglomerated morphology and reduced particle sizes. Increasing the microwave radiation temperatures for preparing the precursors increased the LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 powder surface area and also improved the electrochemical performance. When the microwave radiation temperature was increased to 180 °C, the discharge capacity of the prepared powders was approximately 170 mAh/g and the retention was 98.5% after 10 cycles. The obtained powders exhibited a high lithium-ion diffusion coefficient and good rate capability. These results demonstrate that the microwave-hydrothermal method is a potential process for preparing LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 powders with large specific capacity, good cyclic stability and excellent rate capability.