Dilute Electrolyte to Mitigate Capacity Decay and Voltage Fading of Co-Free Li-Rich Cathode for Next-Generation Li-Ion Batteries

Depeng Song; Zewen Yang; Qing Zhao; Xiaolin Sun; Yue Wu; Yuan Zhang; Jing Gao; Cheng Wang; Li Yang; Takeo Ohsaka; Futoshi Matsumoto; Jianfei Wu

doi:10.1021/acsami.1c24580

Dilute Electrolyte to Mitigate Capacity Decay and Voltage Fading of Co-Free Li-Rich Cathode for Next-Generation Li-Ion Batteries

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2022 Mar 16;14(10):12264-12275. doi: 10.1021/acsami.1c24580. Epub 2022 Mar 3.

Authors

Depeng Song¹, Zewen Yang^{1

2}, Qing Zhao^{1

2}, Xiaolin Sun¹, Yue Wu^{1

2}, Yuan Zhang¹, Jing Gao¹, Cheng Wang¹, Li Yang¹, Takeo Ohsaka³, Futoshi Matsumoto⁴, Jianfei Wu^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266101, China.
² Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
³ Research Institute for Engineering, Kanagawa University, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama, 221-8686, Japan.
⁴ Department of Material and Life Chemistry, Kanagawa University, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama, 221-8686, Japan.

PMID: 35239325
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c24580

Abstract

Li-rich cathodes have potential for use in next-generation Li-ion batteries (LIBs) owing to their high specific capacity and low cost. However, their intrinsic cycling decay and voltage fading limit practical applications. In addition, these cathodes contain Co, which is nonrenewable, scarce, and expensive. This situation severely limits the rapid and sustainable development of low-cost LIBs. This paper introduces a novel dilute electrolyte to overcome these limitations based on the Co-free Li-rich Li_1.2Mn_0.54Ni_0.26O₂ (LMNO) cathode. An even and robust cathode-electrolyte interface (CEI) formed on the surface of LMNO further protects it from side reactions in the dilute electrolyte. This Co-free Li-rich cathode exhibits the best electrochemical performance reported to date among Li-rich cathodes in terms of outstanding cycling stability (capacity retention of 99.8% at 0.5 C) and dramatically suppressed voltage fading (only 0.3% after 100 cycles). This study demonstrates the potential of Co-free Li-rich cathodes for applications in next-generation LIBs.

Keywords: Co-free Li-rich cathode; cathodic electrolyte interphase film; cycling stability; dilute electrolyte; voltage fading.