In situ PDF study of Li-rich layered oxide synthesis

Li-rich layered oxides (LLOs) are promising cathode materials for Li-ion batteries that can deliver exceptional capacities due to combined cationic and anionic redox, but they still face substantial challenges related to cycling stability preventing commercialization. The origin is of a structural nature and it has been proposed that the key methodology to designing high-energy and long-cycle-life LLO-based materials is through structural engineering of the layer stacking sequence and tuning of local cation-cation interactions.We wish to utilize the intensity and high resolution of the ID22 instrument to conduct in situ synchrotron total scattering (with pair distribution function analysis) studies of the evolution of the crystal- and local structures during the synthesis of LLOs. We expect to obtain fundamental insight into the chemistry and kinetic mechanisms at play as well as identify optimal reaction conditions and potential formation of metastable layered phases of interest.