LiNi0.1Mn0.1Co0.8O2 electrode material: Structural changes upon lithium electrochemical extraction

Abstract We reported here on the synthesis, the crystal structure and the study of the structural changes during the electrochemical cycling of layered LiNi 0.1 Mn 0.1 Co 0.8 O 2 positive electrode material. Rietveld refinement analysis shows that this material exhibits almost an ideal α-NaFeO 2 structure with practically no lithium–nickel disorder. The SQUID measurements confirm this structural result and evidenced that this material consists of Ni 2+ , Mn 4+ and Co 3+ ions. Unlike LiNiO 2 and LiCoO 2 conventional electrode materials, there was no structural modification upon lithium removal in the whole 0.42 ≤  x  ≤1.0 studied composition range. The peaks revealed in the incremental capacity curve were attributed to the successive oxidation of Ni 2+ and Co 3+ while Mn 4+ remains electrochemically inactive.