The Effect of Calcination Temperature and Particle Size on the Layered LiNi0.91Co0.06Mn0.03O2 for Lithium-ion Battery via Spray Drying Method

Abstract Ni-rich cathodes are one of the promising candidates for high-energy lithium-ion battery applications. Cost-effective production of Lithium-ion battery (LIB) cathode materials is significant to the electric vehicle (EV) industry. Various synthetic routes have already been established to fabricate Ni-rich LiNixCoyMnzO2 (NCM, x+y+z=1) cathodes with uniform particle size distribution and high density. However, there is a great need for new production systems due to the instability of long production cycles, and environmental issues. For continuous production of high-purity Ni-rich cathode materials, we synthesized the Ni0.91Co0.06Mn0.03CO3 precursor material by a simple spray-drying method using carbonate as a raw material. This material was calcined with LiOH·H2O (5 % excess) at 480 °C for 5 h and then sintered at a different calcining temperature for 15 h under an oxygen atmosphere to complete the cathode material preparation. We have identified the optimum calcining temperature range (at 680-950 ℃) for the Ni-rich cathode LiNi0.91Co0.06Mn0.03O2 (NCM91). As a result, NCM91 cathode material powders were obtained successfully. Furthermore, the obtained NCM91 cathode active material powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) and energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) study. The NCM91 calcined at 710 ℃ has very good electrochemical performance, having a discharge capacity of 190.63 mA h g-1 at the 1st cycle (0.1 C) and good capacity retention of 66.70 % even after 80 cycles.