Alkali slurry ozonation to produce a high capacity nickel battery material

Claim 1

A method of making a high capacity battery material comprising the steps: (A) providing a slurry of hydrated Ni(OH) 2 , containing alkali metal cation selected from the group consisting of potassium cation, sodium cation and lithium cation, formed by treatment of a nickel compound selected from the group consisting of NiSO 4 and Ni(NO 3 ) 2 with a molar excess of an alkali material selected from the group consisting of potassium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, lithium hydroxide, potassium carbonate and sodium carbonate and then washing with water, to provide a slurry having a pH of between about 6.5 and 12.0, and (B) contacting the slurry with an ozone-air or ozone-oxygen gas mixture at a flow rate of between about 25 cc./min. and about 1,000 cc./min. for each liter of alkali metal containing slurry, at a pressure between about 3 psig. and about 20 psig., for a time effective to form an ozonated material consisting essentially of: (a) about 60 wt.% to about 95 wt.% of hydrated Ni(OH) 2 , and (b) about 5 wt.% to about 40 wt.% of Ni(IV) hydrated oxide interlayer doped with alkali metal cation selected from the group consisting of potassium cation, sodium cation, and lithium cation, where the cation in the interlayer of the Ni(IV) hydrated oxide is the same as the cation contained in the slurry of hydrated Ni(OH) 2 .

Claim 2

A method of making a high capacity battery material comprising the steps: (A) providing a slurry of hydrated Ni(OH) 2 , containing alkali metal cation selected from the group consisting of potassium cation, sodium cation and lithium cation, formed by treatment of a nickel compound selected from the group consisting of NiSO 4 and Ni(NO 3 ) 2 with a molar excess of an alkali material selected from the group consisting of potassium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, lithium hydroxide, potassium carbonate and sodium carbonate and then washing with water, to provide a slurry having a pH of between about 6.5 and 12.0, and (B) contacting the slurry with an ozone-air or ozone-oxygen gas mixture at a flow rate of between about 25 cc./min. and about 1,000 cc./min. for each liter of alkali metal containing slurry, at a pressure between about 3 psig. and about 20 psig., for a time effective to form an ozonated material consisting essentially of: (a) about 60 wt.% to about 95 wt.% of hydrated Ni(OH) 2 , and (b) about 5 wt.% to about 40 wt.% of Ni(IV) hydrated oxide interlayer doped with alkali metal cation selected from the group consisting of potassium cation, sodium cation, and lithium cation, where the cation in the interlayer of the Ni(IV) hydrated oxide is the same as the cation contained in the slurry of hydrated Ni(OH) 2 .