Abstract
Different amounts of excess lithium in the range of x = 0~0.3 were added to $Li_{1+x}[Mn_{0.720}Ni_{0.175}Co_{0.105}]O_2$ cathode materials synthesized using the co-precipitation method to investigate its microstructure and electrochemical properties. Pure layered structure without impurities was confirmed in the XRD pattern analysis and increasing peak intensity of $Li_2MnO_3$ was observed along with the addition of over 0.2 mol Li. The initial discharge capacity of the stoichiometric composition was determined to be 246 mAh/g, while the discharge capacity of the addition of 0.1 mol Li was obtained to be 241 mAh/g, which was not significantly different from that of the stoichiometric composition. However, the discharge capacities decreased dramatically after the addition of 0.2 and 0.3 mol Li to 162 mAh/g and 146 mAh/g, respectively. In the rate capability test, the active $Li_{1+x}[Mn_{0.720}Ni_{0.175}Co_{0.105}]O_2$ cathode material of the stoichiometric composition showed a dramatic decrease in its discharge capacity with increasing C-rate, as evidenced by the result that the discharge capacity at 5C was 13% compared with 0.1C. On the other hand, the discharge capacity of compositions containing excess lithium was improved at higher current rates. The cycling test showed that the composition containing an excess of 0.1 mol Li had the most outstanding capacity retention.
