Lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxides

These materials are commonly used in lithium-ion batteries for mobile devices and electric vehicles, acting as the positively charged cathode.

There is a particular interest in optimizing NMC for electric vehicle applications because of the material's high energy density and operating voltage.

[4] Points in a solid solution phase diagram between the end members LiCoO2, LiMnO2, and LiNiO2 represent stoichiometric NMC cathodes.

Increasing cobalt content comes at the cost of replacing either higher-energy nickel or chemically stable manganese while also being expensive.

Displacing nickel from the layered structure can alter the material's bonding characteristics, forming undesirable phases and lowering its capacity.

[10][11] The crystallinity, particle size distribution, morphology, and composition all affect the performance of NMC materials, and these parameters can be tuned by using different synthesis methods.

2000–2001 independently by four research teams: As of 2023, the biggest producers of NMC materials include EcoPro,[21] Ronbay Technology,[22] Easpring and Umicore.

[26] Other electric cars with NMC batteries include, as of 2020: Audi e-tron GE, BAIC EU5 R550, BMW i3, BYD Yuan EV535, Chevrolet Bolt, Hyundai Kona Electric, Jaguar I-Pace, Jiangling Motors JMC E200L, NIO ES6, Nissan Leaf S Plus, Renault ZOE, Roewe Ei5, VW e-Golf and VW ID.3.

Tesla is a significant exception, as they use nickel cobalt aluminium oxide and lithium iron phosphate batteries for their vehicles.

In 2015, Elon Musk reported that the home storage Tesla Powerwall is based on NMC in order to increase the number of charge/discharge cycles over the life of the units.

[30] In 2017, a 35 MW NMC battery with a capacity of 11 MWh was installed and commissioned in Newman in the Australian state of Western Australia.