Hierarchically Structured Core-Shell Design of a Lithium Transition-Metal Oxide Cathode Material for Excellent Electrochemical Performance

Jae Hyun Shim, Young Hoon Kim, Han Sol Yoon, Han A. Kim, Ji Soo Kim, Jongsik Kim, Nam Hee Cho, Young Min Kim, Sanghun Lee

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

Tuning geometrical parameters of lithium-mixed transition-metal oxide (LiTM) cathode materials is a promising strategy for resource-efficient design of high-performance Li-ion batteries. In this paper, we demonstrate that simple and facile geometrical tailoring of the secondary microstructure of LiTM cathode materials without complex chemical modification or heterostructure engineering can significantly improve overall electrochemical performance of the active cathode materials. An optimized LiTM with a bimodal size distribution of primary particles inside the secondary particles exhibits a 53.8% increase in capacity at a high discharge rate (10 C) compared to a commercially available reference and comparable rate capability after 100 charge/discharge cycles. The key concept of this approach is to maximize the beneficial effects arising from the controlled sizes of primary particles. Multimodal/multiscale microscopic characterizations based on electron tomography and scanning transmission electron microscopy, combined with electron energy-loss spectroscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy from the atomic level to the microscale level, were employed to elucidate structural origins of enhanced battery performance. This study paves the way for the resource-efficient microstructure design of LiTM cathode materials to maximize capacity and stability via simple adjustment of processing conditions, which is advantageous for mass-production applications.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)4017-4027
Number of pages11
JournalACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Volume11
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 30 2019
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Li(NiCoMn)O
  • Li-ion battery
  • STEM-EDX/EELS
  • core shell
  • electron tomography
  • lithium mixed transition-metal oxides

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