In situ X-ray diffraction and thermal analysis of LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 synthesized via co-precipitation method

LiNi0.9Co0.15Al0.05O2 （NCA） material is successfully synthesized with a modified co-precipitation method,in which NH3,H2O and EDTA are used as two chelating agents. The obtained LiNi0.9Co0.15Al0.05O2 materialhas well-defined layered structure and uniform element distribution, which reveals an enhanced electro-chemical performance with a capacity retention of 97.9% after 100 cycles at 0.2 C, and reduced thermalrunaway from the isothermal calorimetry test. In situ X-ray diffraction （XRD） was employed to capturethe structural changes during the charge-discharge process. The reversible evolutions of lattice parame-ters （a, b, c, and V） further verify the structural stability.

Hybrid polymer electrolyte for Li–O_2 batteries

Li–O_2 batteries have attracted much attention because of their high specific energy. However, safety problem generated mainly from the flammable organic liquid electrolytes have hindered the commercial use of Li–O_2 batteries. One of the competitive alternatives is polymer electrolytes due to their flexibility and non-flammable property. Moreover, the hybrid polymer electrolyte with enhanced electrochemical properties would be achieved by incorporating inorganic filler, liquid plasticizer and redox mediator into the polymer. While most researches of the hybrid polymer electrolyte focused on Li-ion batteries, few of them took account into its application in Li–O_2 batteries. In this review, we mainly discuss hybrid polymer electrolytes for Li–O_2 batteries with different composition. The critical issues including conductivity and stability of electrolytes are also discussed in detail. Our review provides some insights of hybrid polymer electrolytes for Li–O_2 batteries and offers necessary guidelines for designing the suitable hybrid polymer electrolyte for Li–O_2 batteries as well.

Cation-mixing stabilized layered oxide cathodes for sodium-ion batteries

Sodium-ion batteries are promising for large-scale energy storage due to sodium's low cost and infinite abundance. The most popular cathodes for sodium-ion batteries, i.e., the layered sodium-containing oxides, usually exhibit reversible host rearrangement between P-type and O-type stacking upon charge/discharge. Herein we demonstrate that such host rearrangement is unfavorable and can be suppressed by introducing transition-metal ions into sodium layers. The electrode with stabilized P3-type stacking delivers superior rate capability, high energy efficiency, and excellent cycling performance. Owing to the cation-mixing nature, it performs the lowest lattice strain among all reported cathodes for sodium-ion batteries. Our findings highlight the significance of a stable host for sodium-ion storage and moreover underline the fundamental distinction in material design strategy between lithium-and sodium-ion batteries.