Hydrothermal synthesis of LiMnxCo1−xO2 cathode materials

Ultrafine powders of LiMnxCo1−xO2 (x = 0.2–0.9) cathode materials for lithium-ion secondary batteries are successfully prepared under mild hydrothermal conditions from KMnO4, MnCl2 and Co(NO3)2·6H2O. The influence of the molar ratio of Mn/Co and the reacting temperature are studied. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS) are used to characterize the obtained final particles. The final products are found to be well crystallized LiMnxCo1−xO2 as the molar ratio of Mn/Co is less than 5/5. Transmission electron microscopies (TEM) revealed that the powders are composed of nanosized crystallites with ununiform shape and average size of 10–50 nm. It has been found that the cystallinity of the LiMnxCo1−xO2 powders increased with the reacting temperature rise. And when Mn/Co = 4/6, the sample has good cation ordering.