Investigating the hydrothermal process parameters' effect on the mxoy (M: Ni, Mn, Co) powder properties and evaluating their performances when used as anodes for lithium ion batteries

Today, due to rapid urbanization and industrialization, air pollution has accelerated searches for clean energy. At this point, secondary batteries, which have the ability to be recharged and used repeatedly, become important because they make the energy portable and reusable. Among the alternatives, lithium ion battery stands out for their high energy density, long life, fast chargeability and environmental friendliness. Lithium ion batteries are made of anode, cathode, separator and electrolyte. Their working principle is based on the movement of lithium ions between anode and cathode upon cycling. In lithium ion batteries, lithium (Li) metal was first used as anode material. However, the fact that lithium metal is flammable in air and water the wide commercialization of this battery was prevented. As a solution, first graphite was proposed to replace Li metal in the cell as it is abundant in nature and quite inexpensive. However, the low theoretical capacity of graphite (372 mAh/g) doesn't meet the increasing need for high energy density. Thus, SnO2 (782 mAh/g) anodes have been investigated. But, due to the high stability of Li2O structure resulted from the reaction of oxygen with lithium, the SnO2 electrodes perform low coulombic efficiency. Plus, the rapid degradation of the electrode due to too high volumetric changes and high polarization due to low electrical conductivity of SnO2 prevent their replacement for graphite. Therefore, Sn-Co-C composite anodes were developed by Sony in 2011 to suppress volumetric changes, increase electrical conductivity and support the structural stability of the electrode. Although the system draws attention with its high capacity compared to that of graphite, its capacity is insufficient for rapidly increasing energy demand and the search for alternative anode materials is still ongoing. On the other hand, some of the groups working on alternative anode materials have suggested that transition metal oxides could be used as anode materials. In this context, NiO (718 mAh/g), MnO (755 mAh/g), Mn2O3 (1019 mAh/g), CoO (890 mAh/g) and Co3O4 (890 mAh/g) anodes were investigated, because of their high capacities. But, low electrical conductivities and high volumetric expansion during cycling tests impede their commercialization. To avoid these problems, studies are being carried out on the production of composite metal oxides in different compositions by nano technology. In this sens, various production methods are used. Combustion synthesis method, microwave synthesis method, spray pyrolysis, sol-gel and hydrothermal methods are the main methods. The hydrothermal method is remarkable with its economical structure, its ability to produce nano-sized composite materials with homogeneous and narrow particle size distribution. In addition, this method is preferred due to it is environmentally friendly behavior and compatibility to mass production. In this thesis, we aim to investigate the hydrothermal process parameters' effects on the MxOy (M: Ni, Mn, Co) powder properties and evaluating their performances when used as anodes for lithium ion batteries. For this purpose first NiCo2O4 powders have been produced by hydrothermal method and their use as an anode material in lithium ion batteries has been evaluated. Then, NiMnO3 and NiMnCoO4 powders have been produced as powders to analyze the composition effect of the powder on the electrochemical performance of the electrode. Finally NiMnCoO4 powders have been produced with different amount of NH4F at different calcination temperatures. The results show that by changing hydrothermal process parameters the powder morphology as well as the structure differentiate, leading remarkable differences in the electrochemical performances when used as anodes in lithium ion batteries. Up to now, positive effects of mixed metal oxide composite structures have been proved by different scientists but these structures mostly have been grown directly on nickel foam or carbon cloth. In this thesis, different then traditional approach NiMnCoO4 powders have been produced by hydrothermal method then laminated to fabricate the electrode. In the experimental work, an autoclave of 250 ml has been used to fabricate powders. Then the powders have been treated at 120°C for 12 hours, washed, dried and calcinated (at a heating rate of 5°C/min) at 350°C for 3 hours. The resulting powders have been mixed with 8: 1: 1 ratio of carbon black and binder. The obtained mixture has been coated on the copper foil by lamination method. The coated foil has been dried at 75°C for 24 hours, then rolled and punched at 1.13 cm2. CR 2032 std coin cell has been assembled and the performance of the negative electrode has been measured versus metalic lithium. For each bench of powders, XRD, SEM and EDS analyses have been done to observe the structure and the morphology of the powders. To measure the electrode performance CR2032 cells have been assembled in Ar filled glove box and galvanostatically tested for 50 cycles with different current rates. To discuss the lithiaton mechanism of the electrodes, cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy have been applied. According to electrochemical test results, it has been found that NiMnCoO4 anode containing 1.5 mmol NH4F and calcinated at 250 ̊ C has better electrochemical performance than the others. Cobalt in the NMCO structure, increases the capacity of battery and manganese in the structure improves the stability of the system also nickel increases the rate performance of the system. It is known that, compared with ternary metal oxides, the mixed metal oxides attract interst due to their higher redox activity, also by reducing the amount of NH4F, a rod-liked surface morphology has been obtained, and the rising of thickness of these rods has been prevented by decreasing the calcination temperature from 350 ̊ C to 250 ̊ C. In this way, a significant improvement in battery performance has been achieved the capacity of 475 mAh/g.