One-step atmospheric microplasma synthesis of an NMC-type lithium-ion battery cathode

The manufacture of battery cathode materials is the most energy-intensive step in the production of commercial lithium-ion batteries; specifically, the synthesis of the widely used transition metal oxide cathodes can require tens of hours at temperatures exceeding 700 °C. Attempts to limit the react...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ryan Brow, Chaiwat Engtrakul, Kae Fink, Nicholas McKalip, Maxwell Schulze, Andrew Colclasure
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-08-01
Series:Electrochemistry Communications
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1388248125001249
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849252130065481728
author Ryan Brow
Chaiwat Engtrakul
Kae Fink
Nicholas McKalip
Maxwell Schulze
Andrew Colclasure
author_facet Ryan Brow
Chaiwat Engtrakul
Kae Fink
Nicholas McKalip
Maxwell Schulze
Andrew Colclasure
author_sort Ryan Brow
collection DOAJ
description The manufacture of battery cathode materials is the most energy-intensive step in the production of commercial lithium-ion batteries; specifically, the synthesis of the widely used transition metal oxide cathodes can require tens of hours at temperatures exceeding 700 °C. Attempts to limit the reaction time and energy required to form crystalline cathode materials often still include a heating or calcination step. This communication aims to highlight a nascent yet novel synthesis route: a one-step atmospheric microplasma process for synthesizing cathode particles in less than one second. The hollow-tube reactor employed produces crystalline particles measuring 0.1–3 μm in diameter, displays narrow XRD peaks corresponding to the 003, 104, and 101 planes, and exhibits anodic redox behavior at 3.75 V vs. lithium—characteristic of transition-metal oxide cathode materials—all without requiring an additional calcination step.
format Article
id doaj-art-117fc44198ef4d15b9df2429edbd4e50
institution Kabale University
issn 1388-2481
language English
publishDate 2025-08-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Electrochemistry Communications
spelling doaj-art-117fc44198ef4d15b9df2429edbd4e502025-08-20T03:56:42ZengElsevierElectrochemistry Communications1388-24812025-08-0117710798510.1016/j.elecom.2025.107985One-step atmospheric microplasma synthesis of an NMC-type lithium-ion battery cathodeRyan Brow0Chaiwat Engtrakul1Kae Fink2Nicholas McKalip3Maxwell Schulze4Andrew Colclasure5Corresponding author.; Center for Energy Conversion and Storage Systems, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, United StatesCenter for Energy Conversion and Storage Systems, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, United StatesCenter for Energy Conversion and Storage Systems, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, United StatesCenter for Energy Conversion and Storage Systems, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, United StatesCenter for Energy Conversion and Storage Systems, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, United StatesCenter for Energy Conversion and Storage Systems, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, United StatesThe manufacture of battery cathode materials is the most energy-intensive step in the production of commercial lithium-ion batteries; specifically, the synthesis of the widely used transition metal oxide cathodes can require tens of hours at temperatures exceeding 700 °C. Attempts to limit the reaction time and energy required to form crystalline cathode materials often still include a heating or calcination step. This communication aims to highlight a nascent yet novel synthesis route: a one-step atmospheric microplasma process for synthesizing cathode particles in less than one second. The hollow-tube reactor employed produces crystalline particles measuring 0.1–3 μm in diameter, displays narrow XRD peaks corresponding to the 003, 104, and 101 planes, and exhibits anodic redox behavior at 3.75 V vs. lithium—characteristic of transition-metal oxide cathode materials—all without requiring an additional calcination step.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1388248125001249Plasma synthesisAtmospheric microplasmaOne-step synthesisLithium-ion cathodeNMC
spellingShingle Ryan Brow
Chaiwat Engtrakul
Kae Fink
Nicholas McKalip
Maxwell Schulze
Andrew Colclasure
One-step atmospheric microplasma synthesis of an NMC-type lithium-ion battery cathode
Electrochemistry Communications
Plasma synthesis
Atmospheric microplasma
One-step synthesis
Lithium-ion cathode
NMC
title One-step atmospheric microplasma synthesis of an NMC-type lithium-ion battery cathode
title_full One-step atmospheric microplasma synthesis of an NMC-type lithium-ion battery cathode
title_fullStr One-step atmospheric microplasma synthesis of an NMC-type lithium-ion battery cathode
title_full_unstemmed One-step atmospheric microplasma synthesis of an NMC-type lithium-ion battery cathode
title_short One-step atmospheric microplasma synthesis of an NMC-type lithium-ion battery cathode
title_sort one step atmospheric microplasma synthesis of an nmc type lithium ion battery cathode
topic Plasma synthesis
Atmospheric microplasma
One-step synthesis
Lithium-ion cathode
NMC
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1388248125001249
work_keys_str_mv AT ryanbrow onestepatmosphericmicroplasmasynthesisofannmctypelithiumionbatterycathode
AT chaiwatengtrakul onestepatmosphericmicroplasmasynthesisofannmctypelithiumionbatterycathode
AT kaefink onestepatmosphericmicroplasmasynthesisofannmctypelithiumionbatterycathode
AT nicholasmckalip onestepatmosphericmicroplasmasynthesisofannmctypelithiumionbatterycathode
AT maxwellschulze onestepatmosphericmicroplasmasynthesisofannmctypelithiumionbatterycathode
AT andrewcolclasure onestepatmosphericmicroplasmasynthesisofannmctypelithiumionbatterycathode