LiNi1-xCoxO2 cathode materials for lithium ion batteries were synthesized by the co-precipitation and solid-state reaction methods with LiOH·H2O, Ni(NO3)2·6H2O and Co(NO3)2·6H2O as raw materials. The materials were characterized by XRD, SEM and electrochemical tests. The results showed that synthesized cathode materials were with layered structure similar to α-NaFeO2 and uniform morphology and nearly normal grain size distribution and better electrochemical performance when x was 0.18. The first charge and discharge capacity of the cathode material was 224.3 mAh·g-1 and 194.2 mAh·g-1, respectively. 88.5% of the first discharge capacity remained at the 20th cycle.
