Preparation of preferred oriented LiCoO2 thin films by soft solution processing

Binder free, thin-film LiCoO2 electrodes are prepared by soft solution processing on cobalt and nickel substrates in a home-made solution containing lithium and cobalt ions. By controlling the current density of 0–5 mA/cm2, temperature of 100 °C, and time of 20 h, single-phase LiCoO2 films are synthesized. The structure, chemical composition, and electrochemical activity are studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction pattern analysis (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and cyclic voltammetry (CV). The fabricated films exhibit a good crystallinity and a strong preferred orientation. For films on cobalt, grains are (003) oriented, while for films on nickel, the percentage of (101) oriented grains increase greatly.