One-Step Atmospheric Microplasma Synthesis of an NMC-Type Lithium-Ion Battery Cathode: Article No. 107985

The manufacture of battery cathode materials is the most energy-intensive step in the production of commercial lithium-ion batteries; specifically, the synthesis of the widely used transition metal oxide cathodes can require tens of hours at temperatures exceeding 700 degrees C. Attempts to limit the reaction time and energy required to form crystalline cathode materials often still include a heating or calcination step. This communication aims to highlight a nascent yet novel synthesis route: a one-step atmospheric microplasma process for synthesizing cathode particles in less than one second. The hollow-tube reactor employed produces crystalline particles measuring 0.1-3 ..mu..m in diameter, displays narrow XRD peaks corresponding to the 003, 104, and 101 planes, and exhibits anodic redox behavior at 3.75 V vs. lithium-characteristic of transition-metal oxide cathode materials-all without requiring an additional calcination step.