Rapid and controllable synthesis of LiCoO₂ cathode materials by reactive flash sintering

LiCoO₂ (LCO) has been widely adopted as the electrode for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) which provide a solution for settling problems referring to energy and environment. The demand for rapid and controllable synthesis of LCO increases dramatically. In this work, reactive flash sintering (RFS), for the first time, was introduced to synthesize LCO rapidly and controllably based on simple oxide precursors. The as-prepared LCO, investigated by physicochemical property characterization, showed well-constructed and high crystallinity and controllable morphologies, in which the grain size varied with the magnitude of the applied limited current value, allowing for grain size modulation. Furthermore, the as-prepared LCO exhibited excellent performance in cyclic stability and rate capacity by contrast with that synthesized by the conventional solid-phase sintering method. This is admittedly attributed to better crystallinity and less lithium loss. Therefore, RFS provides a new approach for the manufacture of LCO electrode and has the potential to be applied to other electrode materials for LIBs.