DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Next-Generation Cobalt-Free Cathodes – A Prospective Solution to the Battery Industry's Cobalt Problem

Journal Article · · Advanced Energy Materials

Lithium-ion batteries are overreliant on cobalt containing cathodes. Current projections estimate that hundreds of millions of electric vehicles (EVs) will be on the road by 2050, and this ever-growing demand threatens to deplete global cobalt reserves at an alarming rate. Moreover, cobalt supply chain issues have significantly increased cobalt prices throughout the last decade. As such, energy storage research and development need to reduce the reliance on cobalt to meet ever-growing demand for lithium-ion batteries. The present review summarizes the science and technology gaps and potential of numerous cobalt-free Li-ion cathodes including layered, spinel, olivine, and disordered rock-salt systems. Despite the promising performance of these Co-free cathodes, scale-up and manufacturing bottlenecks associated with these materials must also be addressed to enable widespread adoption in commercial batteries. Overall, this review broadly highlights the enormous promise of “zero-cobalt” Li-ion batteries to enable sustainable production of EVs in the coming decades.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Transportation Office. Vehicle Technologies Office
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1842609
Journal Information:
Advanced Energy Materials, Journal Name: Advanced Energy Materials Journal Issue: 9 Vol. 12; ISSN 1614-6832
Publisher:
WileyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (51)

High‐Nickel NMA: A Cobalt‐Free Alternative to NMC and NCA Cathodes for Lithium‐Ion Batteries journal July 2020
Lithium Iron Aluminum Nickelate, LiNi x Fe y Al z O 2 —New Sustainable Cathodes for Next‐Generation Cobalt‐Free Li‐Ion Batteries journal July 2020
A Cobalt‐ and Manganese‐Free High‐Nickel Layered Oxide Cathode for Long‐Life, Safer Lithium‐Ion Batteries journal October 2021
Sustainable Battery Materials for Next‐Generation Electrical Energy Storage journal March 2021
Sustainable Direct Recycling of Lithium‐Ion Batteries via Solvent Recovery of Electrode Materials journal September 2020
Industrialization of Layered Oxide Cathodes for Lithium‐Ion and Sodium‐Ion Batteries: A Comparative Perspective journal October 2020
Advances and Prospects of High‐Voltage Spinel Cathodes for Lithium‐Based Batteries journal February 2021
Lithium insertion into manganese spinels journal April 1983
Electrochemical extraction of lithium from LiMn2O4 journal February 1984
Structure and electrochemistry of LiMO2 (M=Ti, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni) prepared by mechanochemical synthesis journal September 1998
Cathode properties of phospho-olivine LiMPO4 for lithium secondary batteries journal July 2001
The Li intercalation potential of LiMPO4 and LiMSiO4 olivines with M=Fe, Mn, Co, Ni journal November 2004
Perspectives on the relationship between materials chemistry and roll-to-roll electrode manufacturing for high-energy lithium-ion batteries journal August 2020
An in-depth understanding of the effect of aluminum doping in high-nickel cathodes for lithium-ion batteries journal January 2021
Cobalt-free, high-nickel layered oxide cathodes for lithium-ion batteries: Progress, challenges, and perspectives journal January 2021
A perspective on single-crystal layered oxide cathodes for lithium-ion batteries journal May 2021
Valuation of Surface Coatings in High-Energy Density Lithium-ion Battery Cathode Materials journal June 2021
Understanding implications of cathode architecture on energy density of solid-state batteries journal September 2021
Research progress in high voltage spinel LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 material journal September 2010
Structural and electrochemical properties of LiMoO2 journal March 2012
Research advances on cobalt-free cathodes for Li-ion batteries - The high voltage LiMn1.5Ni0.5O4 as an example journal August 2020
LiNixFeyAlzO2, a new cobalt-free layered cathode material for advanced Li-ion batteries journal September 2020
New synthesis strategies to improve Co-Free LiNi0.5Mn0.5O2 cathodes: Early transition metal d0 dopants and manganese pyrophosphate coating journal December 2020
Energy and environmental aspects in recycling lithium-ion batteries: Concept of Battery Identity Global Passport journal December 2020
Stabilizing ultrahigh-nickel layered oxide cathodes for high-voltage lithium metal batteries journal April 2021
Sustainable recycling of cathode scraps via Cyrene-based separation journal September 2020
Long-Life, Ultrahigh-Nickel Cathodes with Excellent Air Storage Stability for High-Energy Density Lithium-Based Batteries journal August 2020
Understanding the Effect of Cation Disorder on the Voltage Profile of Lithium Transition-Metal Oxides journal July 2016
Lithium-Excess Cation-Disordered Rocksalt-Type Oxide with Nanoscale Phase Segregation: Li 1.25 Nb 0.25 V 0.5 O 2 journal July 2017
High-Voltage “Single-Crystal” Cathode Materials for Lithium-Ion Batteries journal January 2021
Complementary Effects of Mg and Cu Incorporation in Stabilizing the Cobalt-Free LiNiO 2 Cathode for Lithium-Ion Batteries journal September 2020
Formation of LiF Surface Layer During Direct Fluorination of High-Capacity Co-Free Disordered Rocksalt Cathodes journal August 2021
Na 1+ x Mn x /2 Zr 2– x /2 (PO 4 ) 3 as a Li + and Na + Super Ion Conductor for Solid-State Batteries journal January 2021
An Overview of Cation-Disordered Lithium-Excess Rocksalt Cathodes journal March 2021
Challenges for and Pathways toward Li-Metal-Based All-Solid-State Batteries journal March 2021
Cobalt-Free Nickel Rich Layered Oxide Cathodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries journal October 2013
Mechanism of the Fe 3+ Reduction at Low Temperature for LiFePO 4 Synthesis from a Polymeric Additive journal May 2007
Mitigating oxygen loss to improve the cycling performance of high capacity cation-disordered cathode materials journal October 2017
A reflection on lithium-ion battery cathode chemistry journal March 2020
High-nickel layered oxide cathodes for lithium-based automotive batteries journal January 2020
Understanding Co roles towards developing Co-free Ni-rich cathodes for rechargeable batteries journal February 2021
Reversible Mn2+/Mn4+ double redox in lithium-excess cathode materials journal April 2018
A new class of high capacity cation-disordered oxides for rechargeable lithium batteries: Li–Ni–Ti–Mo oxides journal January 2015
Cation-disordered rocksalt transition metal oxides and oxyfluorides for high energy lithium-ion cathodes journal January 2020
High-capacity electrode materials for rechargeable lithium batteries: Li 3 NbO 4 -based system with cation-disordered rocksalt structure journal June 2015
VESTA 3 for three-dimensional visualization of crystal, volumetric and morphology data journal October 2011
Unlocking the Potential of Cation-Disordered Oxides for Rechargeable Lithium Batteries journal January 2014
Olivine LiCoPO[sub 4] as 4.8 V Electrode Material for Lithium Batteries journal January 1999
Phospho-olivines as Positive-Electrode Materials for Rechargeable Lithium Batteries journal April 1997
Is Cobalt Needed in Ni-Rich Positive Electrode Materials for Lithium Ion Batteries? journal January 2019
Brief History of Early Lithium-Battery Development journal April 2020