Nonlinear Conductivities and Electrochemical Performances of LiNi _0.5 Co _0.2 Mn _0.3 O ₂ Electrodes

Journal Article · Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2016 · Journal of the Electrochemical Society

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0961613jes· OSTI ID:1429895

Su, Xin ^[1]; Ha, Seonbaek ^[1]; Ishwait, Manar B. ^[1]; Lei, Hanwei ^[2]; Oljaca, Miki ^[2]; Blizanac, Berislav ^[2]; Dees, Dennis ^[1]; Lu, Wenquan ^[1]

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1. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division
2. Cabot Business and Technology Center, Billerica, MA (United States)

There is increasing research attention on optimizing the carbon black nanoparticles’ structure and loading procedure for improving conductivities and thus, electrochemical performances of cathodes in lithium-ion batteries. Recently, LiNi_0.5Co_0.2Mn_0.3O₂ (NCM523) has been actively investigated due to its larger specific capacity and lower cost compared to conventional cathode materials. Presented here is a high energy density NCM523 cathode obtained by reducing the carbon content using the state-of-the-art carbon nanoparticles developed at Cabot Corporation. It is the first time that the nonlinear conductivity of NCM523 electrodes has been discovered, which is significantly impacted by the dispersion and surface crystalline quality of carbon black nanoparticles, especially when the loading of carbon black is only 1 wt%. The nonlinear conductivity of the cathodes can dramatically affect their electrochemical performances at high rates ($$\geqq$$3C), which is close to the tunneling saturated current. In addition, there is no discernable difference in terms of the rate and cycle performance of the NCM523 electrodes, when reducing the loading of novel carbon black nanoparticles from 5 wt% to 1 wt% in the cathode. Therefore, the energy density of the electrode can be increased by 9% by using existing commercially available electrode materials.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Vehicle Technologies Office (EE-3V)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-06CH11357
• OSTI ID: 1429895
• Journal Information: Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Vol. 163, Issue 13; ISSN 0013-4651
• Publisher: The Electrochemical Society
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

25 ENERGY STORAGE
Capacity
Carbon black
LiNi0.5Co0.2Mn0.3O2
Lithium ion battery
high rate
Nonlinear conductivity