Tuning of the Single Crystal NMC811 Properties Synthesized from Metal Sulfate Precursors by Spray Drying and Thermal Treatment Methods

Abstract

Diversification of the lithium-ion battery material production is one of the important challenges for the modern world to improve the sustainability of the lithium-ion battery technology. The introduction of novel methods for the materials’ production can help to find a solution to this challenge. In the presented work, we investigated the preparation of single-crystal Ni-rich LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 (SC-NMC) cathode material from a metal sulphates water solution by a facile and robust three-step method, which includes a spray drying technique followed by solid-state calcination and lithiation steps. The calcination process was analyzed with and without the presence of a lithium salt, and the effect of the salt amount on the parameters of the synthesized material is described. In addition, the optimization of the lithiation processes is presented, which allows the preparation of the SC-NMC cathode material with highly dispersed single-crystal morphology, relatively small grain size and good electrochemical properties, which are similar to properties of the polycrystalline NCM811 produced by the conventional co-precipitation method. The results presented emphasize the importance of cathode material synthesis with preferred particle size and orientation to enhance the Li-ion diffusion pathway, specific capacity and cycling stability of the produced cathode material.