Patent ID: 8591774

Claim:
A process comprising: dissolving a first transition metal compound in a solvent to form a first transition metal solution and dissolving a second transition metal compound in a solvent to form a second transition metal solution; flowing the first transition metal solution into the second transition metal solution to form a transition metal source solution; contacting the transition metal source solution with a precipitating agent to form a precursor solution; and precipitating from the precursor solution a precipitated particle, the precipitated particle having a radius and a transition metal oxide core; wherein: the concentration of the first transition metal compound in the transition metal source solution and the concentration of the second transition metal compound in the transition metal source solution change with time; and the precipitated particles have a transition metal gradient in which the ratio of the first transition metal to the second transition metal is inversely proportional to the radius of the particle over at least a portion of the radius.