6/7Li NMR study of the Li1-zNi1+zO2 phases

A series of Li1-zNi1+zO2 materials have been synthesised by the coprecipitation route. An X-ray diffraction study was carried out on these materials using the Rietveld method to determine the departure from the ideal stoichiometry z, which ranges from 0 to 0.138. The actual Li/Ni ratio was also checked by chemical analyses using inductively coupled plasma (ICP) for each sample. The stoichiometric sample (z approximately 0) was obtained using a 15% Li excess. (6/7)Li NMR results from LiNiO2 (z approximately 0) show that the asymmetric shape of the NMR signal is due to anisotropy. Calculations give evidence that the paramagnetic dipolar interaction from the electron spins carried by Ni is anisotropic but does not completely explain the experimental anisotropy. (6)Li MAS NMR (magic angle spinning NMR) experiments and temperature standardisation NMR measurements unambiguously assign the isotropic position at +726 ppm. The static-echo NMR spectra of the non-stoichiometric Li1-zNi1+zO2 phases also exhibit an asymmetric shape whose width increases with the departure from the ideal stoichiometry z. (6/7)Li static and MAS NMR show that the 2zNi(2+) ions thus formed modify the dipolar interaction within the materials and also affect the Fermi contact interaction, since a distribution of Li environments is observed using (6)Li NMR for non-stoichiometric samples.