High rate performance of Li[Ni1/3Co1/3Mn1/3]O-2 synthesized via co-precipitation method by different precipitators

In the present study, we investigated the effect of three different precipitators (NaOH, Na2CO3 and (NH4)(2)CO3) on the synthesized layered Li[Ni1/3Co1/3Mn1/3]O-2 cathode materials via co-precipitation method. The obtained compounds were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and galvanostatic charge-discharge measurements. The XRD patterns analysis showed that all the resulted Li[Ni1/3Co1/3Mn1/3]O-2 materials possess a layered hexagonal structure. It was found that at high discharge rate (2C), the prepared Li[Ni1/3Co1/3Mn1/3]O-2 system using Na2CO3 as the precipitator exhibits better cycling performance in the charge-discharge tests compared to others, indicating that Na2CO3 is an optimum precipitator. After 100 cycles at 2C discharge rate in the voltage range from 2.8 to 4.5 vs. Li/Li+, the Li[Ni1/3Co1/3Mn1/3]O-2 system using Na2CO3 as the precipitator retains 97% of its initial discharge capacity. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.