Enhancing thermodynamic stability of single-crystal Ni-rich cathode material via a synergistic dual-substitution strategy

Nickel(Ni)-rich cathode materials have become promising candidates for the next-generation electrical vehicles due to their high specific capacity.However,the poor thermodynamic stability(including cyclic performance and safety performance or thermal stability)will restrain their wide commercial application.Herein,a single-crystal Ni-rich Li Ni_(0.83)Co_(0.12)Mn_(0.05)O_(2) cathode material is synthesized and modified by a dual-substitution strategy in which the high-valence doping element improves the structural stability by forming strong metal–oxygen binding forces,while the low-valence doping element eliminates high Li^(+)/Ni^(2+)mixing.As a result,this synergistic dual substitution can effectively suppress H2-H3 phase transition and generation of microcracks,thereby ultimately improving the thermodynamic stability of Ni-rich cathode material.Notably,the dual-doped Ni-rich cathode delivers an extremely high capacity retention of 81%after 250 cycles(vs.Li/Li+)in coin-type half cells and 87%after 1000 cycles(vs.graphite/Li^(+))in pouch-type full cells at a high temperature of 55℃.More impressively,the dual-doped sample exhibits excellent thermal stability,which demonstrates a higher thermal runaway temperature and a lower calorific value.The synergetic effects of this dual-substitution strategy pave a new pathway for addressing the critical challenges of Ni-rich cathode at high temperatures,which will significantly advance the high-energy-density and high-safety cathodes to the subsequent commercialization.

Effect of crystal morphology of ultrahigh-nickel cathode materials on high temperature electrochemical stability of lithium ion batteries

Higher nickel content endows Ni-rich cathode materials LiNi_(x)Co_yMn_(1-x-y)O_(2)(x>0.6)with higher specific capacity and high energy density,which is regarded as the most promising cathode materials for Li-ion batteries.However,the deterioration of structural stability hinders its practical application,especially under harsh working conditions such as high-temperature cycling.Given these circumstances,it becomes particularly critical to clarify the impact of the crystal morphology on the structure and high-temperature performance as for the ultrahigh-nickel cathodes.Herein,we conducted a comprehensive comparison in terms of microstructure,high-temperature long-cycle phase evolution,and high-temperature electrochemical stability,revealing the differences and the working mechanisms among polycrystalline(PC),single-crystalline(SC)and Al doped SC ultrahigh-nickel materials.The results show that the PC sample suffers a severe irreversible phase transition along with the appearance of microcracks,resulting a serious decay of both average voltage and the energy density.While the Al doped SC sample exhibits superior cycling stability with intact layered structure.In-situ XRD and intraparticle structural evolution characterization reveal that Al doping can significantly alleviate the irreversible phase transition,thus inhibiting microcracks generation and enabling enhanced structure.Specifically,it exhibits excellent cycling performance in pouch-type full-cell with a high capacity retention of 91.8%after 500 cycles at 55℃.This work promotes the fundamental understanding on the correlation between the crystalline morphology and high-temperature electrochemical stability and provides a guide for optimization the Ni-rich cathode materials.