Study On The Flash Burning Preparation Of LiNi_1/3Co_1/3Mn_1/3O₂ Cathode Material

Lithium ion batteries have been widely applied in Aeronautics,electric vehicles and new energy fields as well as portable equipment in our daily life because of their excellent performance like low cost,high discharge capacity and good stability.Lithium ion batteries are such a promising material of great research value that attract the attention of researchers all over the world.LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2,as the cathode material of lithium batteries,was synthesized by flash sintering/field assisted sintering for the first time in this work.This study showed that the current-limited synthesis of LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 could be carried out at temperatures less than 400? for only 8 minutes,comparing with conventional pressureless sintering at 850 ? for 12 hours.The precursor of LiNi1/3Co1/3Nn1/3O2 was firstly synthesized by sol-gel method and powders were made by heating at 200 ?.The powders were then pressed into dogbone-shaped green samples and applied to electric field of 20 V/cm to complete the whole sintering process.X-ray diffraction results showed the phase evolution from precursor mixtures to the final LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 products during flash sintering process and a well-layered structure without undesirable cation mixing in the as-formed LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2,suggesting the feasibility of this powerful synthesis method of cathode materials.The microstructure and particle distribution of the final products were shown by scanning electron microscopy and laser granulometer.The results show that particles of LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 synthesized by flash sintering/field assisted sintering have regular shape and uniform distribution.Combined with the lowered sintering temperatures and reduced sintering time,the excellent electrochemical performance of flash sintered/field assisted sintered LiNii/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 materials suggesting that flash sintering/field assisted sintering could be an energy-efficient approach for the synthesis of lithium-ion battery cathode materials and other materials requiring high temperature heat treatment.