Soft-combustion (wet-chemical) synthesis of a new 4-V class cathode-activematerial, LiVMoO6, for Li-ion batteries

A new, 4-V class, lithiated transition metal oxide cathode, LiVMoO6, has be en synthesized by a novel soft-combustion (wet chemical) low temperature (L T) method that presents advantages compared to the classical ceramic method , namely, in terms of phase purity, surface texture and size, preparation t ime, costs and electrochemical performances of the resulting products. The structural properties of the newly synthesized product have been examined b y means of X-ray diffraction studies (XRD). The thermal reactions which occ ur during the soft-combustion of the precursor mixture have been examined b y DTA/TG techniques. It has been found that the layered LiVMoO6 can only be obtained upon calcining the precursor at 540 degrees C, beyond which the c ompound will thermally be reduced to LiVMoO5 which exhibits inferior struct ural characteristics for the intercalation/deintercalation reactions. The p roduct (LiVMoO6) thus prepared exhibits submicrometre spherical grains (<1 mu m) whose specific surface area is 5.01 m(2)/g. The intercalation/deinter calation (redox) kinetics of the above product has been studied and its sui tability as cathode material in actual electrochemical cells is discussed i n the light of electrochemical properties. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. A ll rights reserved.