2024 AIChE Annual Meeting
Batch Vs. Slug-Flow Continuous Production of Ni1/3Co1/3Mn1/3C2O4 Precursors for Li-Ion Battery
Growing demand for clean energy for various applications necessitates the advancement of energy storage devices such as the lithium ion battery (LIB). The cathode material is one of the determining factors that influences the battery manufacturing cost and its electrochemical performance. The suggested strategies to rationally address these factors are the judicious selection of the production method and optimization of the synthesis parameters of the cathode precursor material. Lithium Nickel Cobalt Manganese Oxide (NCM 111) is a cathode material known for its good structural stability, high theoretical capacity and high energy density. However, the traditional stirred tank-based batch manufacturing process leads to inhomogeneity in reaction environments, leading to non-uniform particle morphology of the cathode precursor particles. Therefore, a slug-flow based reactor is used for the continuous production of NCM111 oxalate precursors and comparative study with the batch derived product is performed. It is found that the product of the continuous slug-flow production method, when compared with the batch product, yielded bigger particle size, narrower particle size distribution (PSD) and higher tap density, suggesting a successful improvement of homogeneity due to the slug-flow micro environment. An NH4OH concentration of 0.08 M and a residence time of 2 minutes followed by lithiation of the precursors shows cycling stability of more than 80% both at 0.5 C and 1 C, and better electrochemical performance of the NCM 111 based LIB.