| abstract |
(i) reacting the lithium salt with one or more transition metal salts in the presence of a sufficient amount of a surfactant to form a liquid crystal phase in the reaction mixture; (ii) heating the reaction mixture to a sol Providing a method of synthesizing a mesoporous lithium transition metal compound comprising the steps of forming a gel and (iii) removing the surfactant to leave a mesoporous product. The mesoporous product can be an oxide, phosphate, borate or silicate, optionally with additional phosphate, borate or silicate reagent added in step (i). Good. The reaction mixture may contain any chelating agent, and it is preferable to control the reaction conditions of steps (i) and (ii) so as to prevent destabilization of the liquid crystal phase. The present invention is particularly suitable for producing mesoporous lithium cobaltate and lithium iron phosphate. The method can be used to synthesize mesoporous lithium cobaltate having a specific surface area greater than 10 m 2 / g, preferably greater than 15 m 2 / g. |