Synthesis of LiBOB Fine Powder to Increase Solubility

Lithium bis (oxalate) borate or LiBOB compound has c ptured interest of researchers, because it is pot entially viable to be used as electrolyte salt in lithium-ion battery system. This compound is easy to synthesize and con sidered to be more environmentally friendly compared to conventional e lectrolyte salt because LiBOB does not contain halo gen element. This research focused on the synthesis of LiBOB fin e powder, which main purpose is improving LiBOB sal t solubility in liquid electrolyte solution. This will aid the i on transfer between electrodes which in turn will i ncrease the electrolyte performance. Solid state reaction was employed in t his experiment. Synthesis of LiBOB compound was per formed by reacting oxalic acid dihydrate, lithium hydroxide m onohydrate, and boric acid. The resulting powder wa s then processed into fine powder using ball milling techn ique with varying milling time (0, 6, 10, and 13) h our. Microstructure of the sample was then analyzed to obtain informati on regarding phase formation, functional groups, gr ain surface morphology, surface area, pore volume, solubility, and ionic conductivity. The analysis shown that LiB O and LiBOB hydrate phase was formed during the reaction, there was no changed in existing phase during milling pr ocess, crystallinity index was shifted to lower value but there was no difference in functional groups. Highe st value in surface area was found to be 83.11 m /g, with pore volume of 1.21311e+02 A at 10 hours m illing. Smaller powder size resulted in higher solubility, unfortunately the ionic condu ctivity was found to be decreased.