Oxidative Thermal Conversion of Hydrothermal Derived Precursors toward the Mixed-Metal Cobaltite Spinel Oxides (ZnCo2O4 and NiCo2O4): In-Situ Investigation by Synchrotron-Radiation XRD and XAS Techniques

Abstract

In-situ investigations of structural transitions during the thermal-oxidative event of mixed-metal spinel oxide precursors, the so-called nickel- (NCO) and zinc-containing (ZCO) cobaltite spinel precursors, were investigated to understand the formations of the derived NiCo2O4 and ZnCo2O4 spinel oxides, respectively. In-situ XRD investigation revealed that emerged temperatures for spinel oxide phase were between 325 and 400 °C, depending on the cationic substituent. It indicated that the emerged temperature correlated with the absolute octahedral site preference energy (OSPE) of those cations that participated in the development of the spinel framework. Moreover, the incorporated nickel and zinc in the precursors was beneficial for inhibiting the occurrence of the undesired CoO phase. Time-resolved X-ray absorption spectroscopic (TRXAS) data suggested the local structure rearrangement of nickel and zinc throughout the calcination process, which differed from the behavior of single-metal cobalt system. The essential information reported herein provides a benefit to control the cationic distribution within spinel materials, leading to the tunable physical and chemical properties.

Chromium-Doped Nickel Cobaltite Nanoneedles as a Cathodic Material for Li–O2 Cells: An X-ray Photoemission and Photoabsorption Spectroscopy Investigation

“…As to the X-ray absorption-related techniques (X-ray absorption spectroscopy, XAS), with a special focus in the vicinity of the ionization threshold, very few reports are present in the literature on NiCo 2 O 4 , mostly investigating the transition metal (TM) K -edges. ,,− Probing the X-ray absorption at the L -edges of TM compounds provides valuable information on the electronic structure of the TM ion in terms of valence and spin state, covalency, ground state symmetry, and ligand properties.…”