Pukyong National University Professor Gominseong Proposes Next-Generation Battery Cathode Material Synthesis Method

The research team led by Professor Go Min-seong from the Department of Metallurgical Engineering at Pukyong National University proposed a new synthesis method for high-nickel ternary cathode materials ‘LiNixCoyM1-x-yO2 (M=Mn or Al, x≥0.8)’ used in next-generation batteries such as secondary batteries.

The team announced a new dry synthesis method that can produce single-crystal cathode materials through a single heat treatment without the co-precipitation process, which is essential for precursor synthesis of NCM (Nickel-Cobalt-Manganese) high-nickel cathode materials with 80% nickel composition.

High-nickel cathode materials have attracted significant attention from the battery industry as next-generation active materials capable of high capacity realization and cost-effectiveness. However, since the nanosized particles are aggregated into spherical polycrystalline forms, microcracks form inside the particles during charge and discharge, causing a rapid decline in lifespan characteristics.

Currently, various studies are underway to synthesize high-nickel cathode materials in single-crystal form rather than polycrystalline form. However, single-crystal synthesis is known to be challenging in performance realization due to uneven elemental distribution and difficulty in stabilizing crystallinity.

Schematic diagram of grain growth promotion and uniform element diffusion due to improved interparticle contact.

To solve these problems, Professor Go’s research team developed a new process called ‘PAMD (Pelletization-assisted mechanical densification)’ to enhance elemental diffusion and grain growth rates.

As a result, they confirmed that elements were uniformly distributed within the single-crystal cathode material and crystallinity was stabilized. Additionally, microcrack formation was prevented, showing an 18% improvement in lifespan characteristics compared to conventional polycrystalline cathode materials even after 100 charge-discharge cycles.

Professor Go Min-seong stated, “The next-generation high-capacity cathode materials produced by applying this new development process are expected to reduce costs and can be applied not only to lithium secondary batteries but also to all-solid-state batteries.”

This research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea and was published in April in an international journal in the materials and energy field (IF=13.599).

The study involved Professor Go Min-seong and Professor Chae Soo-jong from Pukyong National University, Dr. Moonsoo Yoon from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Dr. Jaesung Hwang (UNIST graduate).

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