Studying Lattice Dynamics in Layered Transition Metal Oxide Materials for Lithium ion Batteries

Lithium ion batteries are very important candidates for energy storage in mobile systems, e.g. electric vehicles. For cost-competitiveness, however, the positive electrode has to be significantly improved. To date, the positive electrode consists of a layered transition metal oxide system LiMO2 consisting of alternating lithium and transition metal layers. The latter contains ions of Ni,Mn,Co, and Li at varying stoichiometry. Depending on the applied stoichiometry, a number of processes can occur, e.g. defect formation and surface degradation. Here, we want to study the effect of different stoichiometries on lattice dynamics. For this, we want to perform phonon density of states measurements on twelve samples at the MARI time of flight spectrometer. We hope that our results we shed a light on the dynamic processes eventually being able to predict most suitable stoichiometries.