Thermal investigations of transitional metal oxide cathodes in Li-ion cells

Accelerating rate and differential scanning calorimeters were used to inves tigate the thermal behavior of LiCoO2 and LiNi0.8Co0.2O2 cathodes in fully charged Li-ion cells. The heat flow for LiNi0.8Co0.2O2 was observed to be t hree times higher than that for LiCoO2. The net heat transferred out of the cell fabricated with a LiNi0.8Co0.2O2 cathode was found to be 51% higher t han the net heat transferred out of the cell fabricated with LiCoO2. Althou gh LiNi0.8Co0.2O2 was found to be thermally less stable than LiCoO2, the el ectrochemical performance of the LiNi0.8Co0.2O2 cathode under high power di scharge was found superior to LiCoO2. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All ri ghts reserved.