A one-pot strategy for nanocrystalline coating of micro- and nanoparticles

Abstract

A one-pot strategy was developed to coat micro- and nanomaterials with crystalline nanoparticles. Three Li-based materials were coated by a solution combustion synthesis method. By this procedure, we obtained LiCoO2 nanoparticles covered with nanocrystals of NiO and Ag; LiMn2O4 nanoparticles covered with Ag, and LiNi0·5Mn1·5O4 microparticles covered with ZnO. The results confirm that the coating of the nano- and micro-particles was successful. The materials obtained were characterized morphologically and structurally. Using X-ray diffraction, Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), and Energy-dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy Mapping, the morphological uniformity and high crystallinity of the nano-coatings were confirmed. Therefore, this method makes it possible to obtain different coatings by varying the weight percentage of the coating material, yielding homogeneously coated materials, even at percentages as low as 0.5 wt%. The developed method has great advantages as it is simple, inexpensive, and easily scalable.