Synthesis, characterization and electrochemical properties of 4.8 V LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 cathode material in lithium-ion batteries

In this work the synthesis of a nickel doped cubic manganese spinel has been studied for application as cathode material in secondary lithium batteries. Six different experimental approaches have been tested in order to carry out a screening of the various possible synthetic routes. The used synthetic strategies were wet chemistry (WC), solid state (SS), combustion synthesis (CS), cellulose-based sol–gel synthesis (SG-C), ascorbic acid-based sol–gel synthesis (SG-AA) and resorcinol/formaldehyde-based sol–gel synthesis (SG-RF). The goal of our study is to obtain insights about how the synthesis conditions can be modified in order to achieve a material with improved electrochemical performances in such devices, especially in high current operating regimes. The synthesized materials have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), atomic absorption, inductively coupled plasma (ICP-MS) atomic emission spectroscopy, surface area measurements and tested as high voltage cathodes in Li-ion electrochemical devices.