Heterogeneous doping-induced surface reconstruction toward high-performance LiNiO2 cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries

• Published in: Science China materials Vol. 66; no. 7; pp. 2582 - 2590
• Main Authors: Zhang, Yudong, Ding, Guoyu, Li, Jinhan, Liu, Jiuding, Huang, Saifang, Cheng, Fangyi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beijing Science China Press 01.07.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aluminum; Cathodes; Chemistry and Materials Science; Chemistry/Food Science; Discharge; Doping; Electrode materials; Interface stability; Lithium-ion batteries; Magnesium; Materials Science; Morphology; Phase transitions; Rechargeable batteries; Reconstruction; Structural stability; LiNiO; doping; core/shell microstructure; lithium-ion battery; cobalt-free cathode
• ISSN: 2095-8226; 2199-4501
• DOI: 10.1007/s40843-022-2426-8

Owing to its high discharge capacity, which is close to the theoretical capacity, LiNiO 2 (LNO) is considered an attractive cathode material for high-energy lithium-ion batteries. However, LNO secondary spherical cathode materials prepared by the conventional precipitation method have shown unsatisfactory cycle performance and a limited large-rate discharge capacity due to their extremely poor structure and interfacial stability. In this work, we reported on the surface reconstruction of LNO induced by the heterogeneous doping of Al and Mg via a segmented coprecipitation method and subsequent calcination. The modified LNO cathode (NAMg) showed decent cycle stability and a large-rate discharge ability (177.9 mA h g −1 at 10 C) against the Li anode in a voltage range of 2.8–4.35 V. The prototype full cell with a carbon anode had a superior cycling stability of 95.1% after 150 cycles. The loose and porous morphology increased the specific surface area and facilitated the rapid transport of Li + ions. Moreover, the doping of Mg and Al alleviated harmful phase transition during the cycling process. This work demonstrates that the morphology, structure, and performance of LNO could be effectively adjusted by regulating the distribution of the doping elements, providing a new strategy for the synthesis of high-performance Ni-based cathode materials.