The effect of fuel type on the synthesis of LiMn1.5Ni0.5O4 powders by solution combustion route

In this research LiMn1.5Ni0.5O4 nano powders that are used as cathode material for lithium-ion batteries were prepared by solution combustion synthesis route. Cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB), mixture of “CTAB and glycine” and also mixture of “CTAB and citric acid” were used as fuel using fuel to oxidant ratio of 0.5. The effect of fuel type on microstructure and electrochemical properties of the powders was studied. Differential thermal analysis (DTA) results demonstrated that the gel combustion intensity increases in presence of glycine and citric acid fuels. XRD results of the powders synthesized by mixture of “citric acid and CTAB” and “glycine and CTAB” shows formation of single phase LiMn1.5Ni0.5O4 with a higher crystallinity. BET results show that the surface area of the powders prepared by mixture of fuels are equal to 400 m2/g and 269 m2/g for “CTAB and glycine” and” CTAB and citric acid” mixtures respectively that are higher than the surface area of the powders prepared by CTAB. SEM results show spherical fine particles (15 to 10 nm). The highest discharge capacity (125mAh/g) was obtained for the powders synthesized with the mixture of citric acid and CTAB due to its high surface area and small cell parameter (8.1671 Å).