Synthesis and characterization ofLimn2o4 based cathode materials forLithium ion battery

Abstract

The main objective of the present work is to develop LiMn2O4based cathode materials for lithium ion batteries with reduced capacity fading,by substituting metal ions through a simple and rapid method of synthesis,which yields powders of good chemical homogeneity. Solution combustion(SC) method of synthesis was adopted throughout the work for preparingcation substituted LiMn2O4 cathode materials, which is expected to reducecapacity fading by stabilizing the spinel structure. Moreover, co-substitutionof cations is also attempted, to increase the electronic conductivity of cathodematerial, which is a very important property related to battery performance.Initially, LiMn2O4 was synthesized using the corresponding metalnitrates and urea by SC at 500 °C, which is further calcined at 800 °C to yieldfinal product. Similar procedure was adopted for the synthesis of Znsubstituted LiMn2O4, Ni substituted LiMn2O4, Ni and Zn co-substitutedLiMn2O4, and Zn and Ag co-substituted LiMn2O4 cathode materials.Zn substitution has been proven to stabilize the spinel structure,whereas, substituting Ni is found by researchers to increase the energy densityof the material. Therefore, various weight percentages of Ni and Zn cosubstitutedLiMn2O4 has been tried, to synthesize a cathode material whichprovides the benefits of both Ni and Zn substitution. Moreover, Zn and Agco-substituted LiMn2O4 has also been synthesized in an attempt to increasethe electronic conductivity of the cathode material, while stabilizing the spinelstructure. newline