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Title: Understanding Co roles towards developing Co-free Ni-rich cathodes for rechargeable batteries

Journal Article · · Nature Energy
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  1. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
  2. Peking Univ., Beijing (China)
  3. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Stanford Univ., CA (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Reduction on cobalt reliance is an urgent requirement in the development of sustainable cathode materials for Li-ion batteries. Here the authors analyse the roles of cobalt and its interplay with other ions in high-nickel layered oxides, and deduce a material formula for promising cobalt-free cathodes. Current bottlenecks in cobalt (Co) supply have negatively impacted commercial battery production and inspired the development of cathode materials that are less reliant on Co. However, complete Co elimination is prevented by the lack of fundamental understanding of the impact of Co on cathode capacity and structural stability, as well as the lack of effective substitute components in practice. Here we investigate the roles of Co in purposely designed systems that include both Co-rich and Mn-substituted Co-free cathodes. Our results affirmed that Co plays an undeniable role in fast capacity and/or structural degradation, and found that Co is more destructive than Ni at high potentials, which offers unexpected but encouraging perspectives for Co reduction. Moreover, Mn substitution effectively alleviates the destructive effects of Co and enables a high potential functionality. Finally, with these fundamental discoveries, we demonstrated a series of LiNiαMnβXγO2 (X = single or multiple dopants) as a promising candidate for Co-free cathodes.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities Division; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Transportation Office. Vehicle Technologies Office; National Key Research and Development Program of China
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357
OSTI ID:
1778093
Journal Information:
Nature Energy, Vol. 6, Issue 3; ISSN 2058-7546
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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25 ENERGY STORAGE
Co-free
Ni-rich
layered structure
oxygen redox