Microwawe assisted synthesis of cathode materials for lithium batteries

Microwave (MW)-assisted solid state synthesis of inorganic materials is gaining even more importance for its peculiar characteristic of rapidity which contributes to lowering cost production . Furthermore, genuine non-thermal effects of microwaves which result in chemical-physical and morphological properties of the materials different from that displayed when prepared by conventional routes have been already reported. MW-assisted solid state reactions have been proved to be powerful methods for grain size control of materials for lithium rechargeable batteries and we already pursued the strategy of using MW for the synthesis of SVO for ICD primary lithium batteries. Here we describe novel MW-assisted methods for the preparation of transition metal oxide cathodes and we present the results of their physical-chemical and electrochemical characterizations compared to those obtained for the corresponding cathodes prepared by “conventional” routes.