FURI | Spring 2024

Regulating Surface Synergistic Layers of Layered Cathodes Through Low-Temperature Pyrolysis

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are crucial in the advancement of electronic devices, being used in portable electronics, electric vehicles, energy storage, etc. Most commercial uses of LIBs, such as electric vehicles, utilize LiNixMnyCo1-x-yO2 (NMC) where x ≤ 0.6 due to adequate research that proves consistent and safe use. It is proven that increasing the nickel content, x ≥ 0.6 can increase the specific capacity thus increasing the usage of a battery/unit weight. However, their performance evaluation shows serious structural instability and safety concerns due to surface instability and degradations that are magnified with the increase of Ni concentration. Thus, it is critically important to construct a robust surface of Ni-rich cathodes to eliminate surface degradation and enhance battery performance.