Synthesis of LiCo0.5Ni0.5O2 powders by a sol-gel method

Layered HT (high temperature)-LiCo0.5Ni0.5O2 powders, which are of potential interest as cathode materials for lithium secondary batteries, have been synthesized by a sol-gel method using poly(acrylic acid)(PAA) as a chelating agent. This method provided a variety of advantages of the processing conditions over the conventional solid-state reaction method. High-quality polycrystalline HT-LiCo0.5Ni0.5O2 powders of very uniformly sized particulates with an average particle size of 0.4-2 mu m could be conveniently obtained at a comparatively low calcination temperature of 600 degrees C and short calcination time of 1 h in air. An electrochemical study showed that the LiCo0.4Ni0.5O2 powders had high capacity and good cycling behaviour for lithium secondary batteries.