Synthesis, powder-metallurgical production and lithium tracer diffusion in LiNi0.33Mn0.33Co0.33O2 cathode material for lithium-ion batteries

The Li(Ni0.33Mn0.33Co0.33)O2 (NMC333) compound is one of the most promising cathode materials for Li-ion batteries. In the following, the solid-state reaction in a two-step synthesis scheme of this material is examined, as well as the powder-metallurgical production of sintered bulk samples. Long range Li tracer self-diffusion is investigated in polycrystalline sintered bulk NMC333 samples with an average grain size of about 50 nm. For analysis, stable 6Li tracers are used in combination with secondary ion mass spectrometry. At a temperature of T = 300 °C the determined Li diffusivity yields DLi = 4.9 ∙ 10-16 m2/s.