Mitigating the Surface Degradation and Voltage Decay of Li1.2Ni0.13Mn0.54Co0.13O2 Cathode Material through Surface Modification Using Li2ZrO3

Kunkanadu R Prakasha; Marappan Sathish; Parthasarathi Bera; Annigere S Prakash

doi:10.1021/acsomega.7b00381

Mitigating the Surface Degradation and Voltage Decay of Li_1.2Ni_0.13Mn_0.54Co_0.13O₂ Cathode Material through Surface Modification Using Li₂ZrO₃

ACS Omega. 2017 May 25;2(5):2308-2316. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.7b00381. eCollection 2017 May 31.

Authors

Kunkanadu R Prakasha^{1

1}, Marappan Sathish², Parthasarathi Bera³, Annigere S Prakash¹

Affiliations

¹ CSIR - Network Institutes of Solar Energy (CSIR - NISE) and Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), CSIR - Central Electrochemical Research Institute-Chennai Unit, CSIR Madras Complex, Taramani, Chennai 600113, India.
² Functional Materials Division, CSIR - Central Electrochemical Research Institute, Karaikudi 630003, India.
³ Surface Engineering Division, CSIR - National Aerospace Laboratories, Bengaluru 560017, India.

Abstract

In the quest to tackle the issue of surface degradation and voltage decay associated with Li-rich phases, Li-ion conductive Li₂ZrO₃ (LZO) is coated on Li_1.2Ni_0.13Mn_0.54Co_0.13O₂ (LNMC) by a simple wet chemical process. The LZO phase coated on LNMC, with a thickness of about 10 nm, provides a structural integrity and facilitates the ion pathways throughout the charge-discharge process, which results in significant improvement of the electrochemical performances. The surface-modified cathode material exhibits a reversible capacity of 225 mA h g^-1 (at C/5 rate) and retains 85% of the initial capacity after 100 cycles. Whereas, the uncoated pristine sample shows a capacity of 234 mA h g^-1 and retains only 57% of the initial capacity under identical conditions. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy reveals that the LZO coating plays a vital role in stabilizing the interface between the electrode and electrolyte during cycling; thus, it alleviates material degradation and voltage fading and ameliorates the electrochemical performance.