Synthesis of LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 cathode material via oxalate precursor

Using oxalic acid and stoichiometrically mixed solution of NiCl2, CoCl2, and MnCl2 as starting materials, the triple oxalate precursor of nickel, cobalt, and manganese was synthesized by liquid-phase co-precipitation method. And then the LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 cathode materials for Li-ion battery were prepared from the precursor and LiOH·H2O by solid-state reaction. The precursor and LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 were characterized by chemical analysis, XRD, EDX, SEM and TG-DTA. The results show that the composition of precursor is Ni1/3Co1/3Mn1/3C2O4·2H2O. The product LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2, in which nickel, cobalt and manganese are uniformly distributed, is well crystallized with a-NaFeO2 layered structure. Sintering temperature has a remarkable influence on the electrochemical performance of obtained samples. LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 synthesized at 900 °C has the best electrochemical properties. At 0.1C rate, its first specific discharge capacity is 159.7 mA·h/g in the voltage range of 2.75-4.30 V and 196.9 mA·h/g in the voltage range of 2.75-4.50 V; at 2C rate, its specific discharge capacity is 121.8 mA·h/g and still 119.7 mA·h/g after 40 cycles. The capacity retention ratio is 98.27%.