Lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide (LNCM) is the key cathode material for ternary lithium batteries which have a higher electric capacity and are less costly than lithium iron phosphate batteries. Chloride (Cl) is a type of impurity that may affect the efficiency and storage capacity of the battery. Therefore, the presence of Cl in LNCM needs to be monitored for the purpose of quality control.
This work demonstrates the ability of the NexION® 1000 ICP-MS equipped with the All Matrix Solution (AMS) online gas dilution system to accurately measure chloride content in cathode and precursor materials. The NexION ICP-MS series is uniquely equipped with wide-aperture sampler and skimmer cones as well as the AMS gaseous dilution system, allowing accurate and precise analysis of high total dissolved solids (TDS) samples.