Insight into the capacity degradation and structural evolution of single-crystal Ni-rich cathodes

Single-crystal Ni-rich cathodes are a promising candidate for high-energy lithium-ion batteries due to their higher structural and cycling stability than polycrystalline materials.However,the phase evolution and capacity degradation of these single-crystal cathodes during continuous lithation/delithation cycling remains unclear.Understanding the mapping relationship between the macroscopic electrochemical properties and the material physicochemical properties is crucial.Here,we investigate the correlation between the physical-chemical characteristics,phase transition,and capacity decay using capacity differential curve feature identification and in-situ X-ray spectroscopic imaging.We systematically clarify the dominant mechanism of phase evolution in aging cycling.Appropriately high cut-off voltages can mitigate the slow kinetic and electrochemical properties of single-crystal cathodes.We also find that second-order differential capacity discharge characteristic curves can be used to identify the crystal structure disorder of Ni-rich cathodes.These findings constitute a step forward in elucidating the correlation between the electrochemical extrinsic properties and the physicochemical intrinsic properties and provide new perspectives for failure analysis of layered electrode materials.

Competitive Redox Chemistries in Vanadium Niobium Oxide for Ultrafast and Durable Lithium Storage

Niobium pentoxide(Nb_(2)O_(5))anodes have gained increasing attentions for high-power lithium-ion batteries owing to the outstanding rate capability and high safety.However,Nb2O5 anode suffers poor cycle stability even after modified and the unrevealed mechanisms have restricted the practical applications.Herein,the over-reduction of Nb5+has been demonstrated to be the critical reason for the capacity loss for the first time.Besides,an effective competitive redox strategy has been developed to solve the rapid capacity decay of Nb_(2)O_(5),which can be achieved by the incorporation of vanadium to form a new rutile VNbO_(4)anode.The highly reversible V^(3+)/V^(2+)redox couple in VNbO_(4)can effectively inhibit the over-reduction of Nb^(5+).Besides,the electron migration from V^(3+)to Nb5+can greatly increase the intrinsic electronic conductivity for VNbO4.As a result,VNbO4 anode delivers a high capacity of 206.1 mAh g^(−1)at 0.1 A g^(−1),as well as remarkable cycle performance with a retention of 93.4%after 2000 cycles at 1.0 A g^(−1).In addition,the assembled lithium-ion capacitor demonstrates a high energy density of 44 Wh kg^(−1)at 5.8 kW kg^(−1).In summary,our work provides a new insight into the design of ultra-fast and durable anodes.