Soft mechanochemical synthesis: Preparation of cathode materials for rechargeable lithium batteries

To prepare intercalation lithium - transition metal oxide cathode materials for rechargeable lithium batteries, the reactions in the mixtures of the correspondent hydroxides in highly energetic planetary activators, so called 'soft mechanochemical synthesis', were studied. The method can be used for direct preparation of final products in a high dispersed and disordered state, as well as for obtaining high reactive precursors yielding final products by the subsequent brief heating,at considerably lower temperatures as compared to conventional ceramic method. The as prepared products were analyzed using X-ray diffraction, TG, IRS, XPS, Li-7 NMR, EPR, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, electron microscopy, BET, and electrochemical measurements. The peculiarities of crystal structure, electronic state of transition metal ions and cycling behaviour of materials are discussed. The method as proposed is concluded to be economically effective and ecologically clean.