Introduction to cathode materials for new energy lithium batteries

With the goal of "carbon peaking and carbon neutrality" proposed and the time to achieve it determined, new energy pure electric vehicles have developed rapidly in the past two years. The core of their power is undoubtedly the battery, and the selection of battery cathode materials is the core of the core. , there are many cathode materials on the market, such as lithium cobalt oxide, lithium manganate, lithium iron phosphate, ternary lithium, etc. Their physical and chemical properties and performance have their own characteristics, and they are also used in different industries.

Lithium cobalt oxide: the first successfully commercialized cathode material for lithium-ion batteries. Cobalt resources are relatively scarce, resulting in high prices. At the same time, cobalt is toxic, coupled with its poor safety performance, relatively low capacity, and obvious shortcomings. At present, lithium cobalt oxide material batteries are mainly used in digital batteries.

Lithium manganate: mainly spinel type lithium manganate. Compared with lithium cobalt oxide, it has the advantages of abundant resources, low manufacturing cost, low environmental pollution, and high safety performance. However, the structure of spinel is difficult to maintain integrity and its circulation is poor.

Lithium iron phosphate: The source of raw materials is abundant, and the price is relatively low compared to previous materials. The production process also causes less environmental pollution. Coupled with better cycle performance and higher safety performance, it has taken the lead in electric vehicles. application. However, lithium iron phosphate materials have poor conductivity and low tap density, resulting in low energy density per unit volume. With the development of lithium iron phosphate technology, the current high-pressure lithium iron phosphate technology has gradually matured, and the energy density has steadily increased.

Ternary composite material: It is a multi-element metal composite oxide---ternary material (cobalt nickel manganese + lithium). The ternary material combines the advantages of lithium cobalt oxide, lithium nickel oxide and lithium manganate (lithium aluminate) to form a ternary eutectic solution, which can fully exert the effects of the three components. It has high energy density and can provide longer battery life per unit volume. It has poor heat resistance and gradually dissolves at around 300°C, and has a greater risk of spontaneous combustion.

Ternary composite material: It is a multi-element metal composite oxide---ternary material (cobalt nickel manganese + lithium). The ternary material combines the advantages of lithium cobalt oxide, lithium nickel oxide and lithium manganate (lithium aluminate) to form a ternary eutectic solution, which can fully exert the effects of the three components. It has high energy density and can provide longer battery life per unit volume. It has poor heat resistance and gradually dissolves at around 300°C, and has a greater risk of spontaneous combustion.

Nowadays, the batteries of mainstream new energy pure electric vehicles on the market basically use ternary lithium batteries and lithium iron phosphate batteries.

With the development of new energy pure electric vehicles, battery life is no longer the only measurement indicator. Frequent spontaneous combustion accidents have made battery safety an important consideration when choosing electric vehicles. This has given the seemingly "backward" lithium iron phosphate technology a new lease of life. Manufacturers have begun to invest their energy in further researching the development of lithium iron phosphate. The market share has increased year by year, and the market share has now slightly surpassed that of ternary materials. . And ternary materials are also working hard to get rid of the "flammable" hat, improve safety, and reduce costs as much as possible.

In the past two years, leading companies have begun to lay out the lithium iron manganese phosphate market. As one of the improvement directions of lithium iron phosphate, its battery life is higher than that of lithium iron phosphate, and it is superior to the safety and cost of ternary materials. It may further Change the pattern of new energy battery industry.