Materials for lithium-ion batteries by mechanochemical methods

Lithium-ion batteries have many advantages over traditional rechargeable batteries and their development has been very rapid. In this chapter, preparation and electrochemical performance of their key materials including cathode materials such as LiCoO2 and LiMn2O4, anode materials such as carbon, alloys and nitrides, and electrolytes such as oxides and sulfides by mechanochemical (MC) methods are primarily summarized. Compared with conventional solid state reactions at high temperature, the MC methods appear to accelerate and simplify the synthesis process and decrease the energy expenses as well as the cost of the material. In addition, the prepared materials present good electrochemical performance. When MC methods are combined with other techniques, their advantages can be more fully displayed. In the meanwhile, MC reactions will have some unfavourable actions to some materials which should be avoided. Finally, some further aplications for MC methods in lithium-ion batteries are pointed out.