Flour-assisted simple fabrication of LiCoO2 with enhanced electrochemical performances for lithium ion batteries

We report the fabrication of the uniform LiCoO2 cathode material by a two-step approach in which Co3O4 is prepared by a simple calcination of the mixture of the Co(NO3)(2) and flour and then transformed into nanostructured LiCoO2 by solid state reaction at 750 A degrees C for 2 h. The structure and morphology of pristine LiCoO2 and LiCoO2 derived from the flour are characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscope. The electrochemical performances of the material of as-obtained LiCoO2 are investigated by galvanostatic test, cyclic voltammetry and AC impedance measurements, which show that the introduction of the flour significantly decrease the charge-transfer resistance of LiCoO2. The LiCoO2 treated by flour delivers a good electrochemical performance, showing an initial discharge capacity of 138 mAh g(-1) at the current density of 100 mA g(-1) and then stabilized at 116 mAh g(-1) after 100 cycles. Meanwhile, the time of the solid reaction state in this work is significantly shorter compared with the traditional approach of the preparation of LiCoO2, meaning the energy consumption in fabricating LiCoO2 is significantly reduced and promoting it to realize the low-cost production.