Mass production of cathode materials for lithium ion battery by flame type spray pyrolysis

Abstract

Lithium transition metal oxide cathode materials such as LiAl0.05Mn1.95O4, LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4, LiCo1/3Ni1/3Mn1/3O2 were successfully produced at a rate of 2 kg/h by large flame type spray pyrolysis. The continuous spray pyrolysis of 250 h exhibited the good stability for powder production. The powder characteristics of them were determined by SEM, XRD, BET and AAS. Cathode materials had spherical morphology with a particle size of about 8 μm and porous microstructure with specific surface area of 10 m2/g. Their geometrical standard deviation of particle size ranged from 1.2 to 1.5. The chemical composition of them was in good agreement with that of the starting solution. The electrochemical measurement revealed that these cathode materials exhibited the higher rechargeable capacity, good cycle performance and thermal stability.