what is lithium cobalt battery?

Lithium cobaltate is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula LiCoO, generally used as a positive electrode material for lithium-ion batteries. Mainly used for small and medium-sized batteries, widely used in notebook computers, mobile phones, MP3/4 and other small electronic equipment, the nominal voltage is 3.7V. 

Its appearance is gray-black powder, inhalation and skin contact can cause allergies and have certain toxicity.

Lithium cobalt oxide is generally used as a positive electrode material for lithium ion secondary batteries. The liquid phase synthesis process uses polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) or polyethylene glycol (PEG) aqueous solution as solvent, and lithium salt and cobalt salt are dissolved in PVA or PEG respectively. In the aqueous solution, the mixed solution is heated and concentrated to form a gel, and the generated gel is then heated and decomposed, and then calcined at high temperature, and the calcined powder is ground and sieved to obtain lithium cobalt oxide powder.

Physical and chemical properties of lithium cobalt oxide

Properties of lithium cobaltate: its appearance is gray-black powder; it is a strong oxidant in acidic solution, which can oxidize CI- to Cl2 and Mn2+ to MnO4-; the redox potential in acidic solution is weaker than that of ferric acid, But much higher than permanganic acid.

Characteristics of lithium cobalt oxide

1. Excellent electrochemical performance: a. The average capacity decay per cycle per cycle ﹤ 0.05%; b. The first discharge specific capacity ﹥ 135mAh/g; c. The 3.6V initial discharge plateau ratio ﹥ 85%.

2. Excellent processing performance.

3. The tap density is large, which helps to improve the volume specific capacity of the battery

4. The product has stable performance and good consistency

Uses of Lithium Cobaltate

Lithium cobalt oxide is mainly used in the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries for mobile phones, notebook computers and other portable electronic devices as cathode materials.

The application of lithium cobalt oxide battery is still relatively small. The technology of using cobalt lithium for small batteries is very mature, but the cost of cobalt lithium is too high. Many companies use manganese lithium instead, and some are all manganese. Lithium cobalt oxide has stable performance and is currently the most mature technology used in mobile phones. However, the biggest disadvantage of application is high cost. Cobalt is a relatively scarce strategic metal. In addition, it is also difficult to apply to power lithium batteries.