Firing properties and corrosion resistance of mullite‐Al2TiO5 saggar materials

Abstract Conventional refractory materials used for calcining ternary lithium‐ion battery cathode materials, such as mullite, cordierite, and magnesia‐alumina spinel, are vulnerable to attack by Li(Ni x Co y Mn 1− x − y )O 2 (LNCM) materials and therefore have a short service life. In order to improve the corrosion resistance of refractory materials to LNCM materials, mullite‐Al 2 TiO 5 materials with different contents were synthesized in this paper by using calcined mullite powder, TiO 2 powder, and La 2 O 3 powder as raw materials, which were calcined at 1500–1600°C temperature, respectively. In this study, the potential of the materials for the preparation of LNCM materials was investigated in terms of its physical properties, resistance to the corrosion of LNCM materials, and resistance to thermal shock. The results showed that mullite‐Al 2 TiO 5 composites can be successfully synthesized at 1500–1600°C, and the physical properties of the materials met the production requirements. The prepared mullite‐Al 2 TiO 5 composites also exhibited better physical properties, good corrosion resistance, and proper thermal shock resistance compared with mullite refractories.