Abstract
Continuous production of good quality low-cobalt Ni-rich cathode is needed as it can offer high capacity suitable for electric vehicles. However, the low-cobalt NCM-based materials suffer from a high cation mixing and poor rate capability. Also, proper optimization of co-precipitation reaction parameters as well as the manufacturing platform are needed to obtain NCM-precursor particles with uniform particle size and morphology. In order to address all the issues, in this work, a slug-flow-based manufacturing platform is utilized for the continuous production of Fe3+ substituted Ni0.85Co(0.1−x)Mn0.05FexC2O4 (where x = 0, 0.02, 0.04) precursors. The slug-flow manufacturing produces precursor particles with high yield and uniformity. The effect of reactants concentration on the product yield and composition is analyzed through mathematical modelling. Finally, the electrochemical performance of the Ni-rich cathodes with various amounts of Co and Fe content is analyzed through rate capability, cycling stability, and impedance analysis. This work provides key insight into: (i) reactor design for continuous production; (ii) mathematical modelling of the precipitation reaction parameter; and (iii) a detail study of the effect of Co-substitution with Fe3+ in Ni-rich NCM on its physical properties as well as electrochemical performance. We find that an intermediate Fe content provides optimum cathode with desired properties.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1267-1278 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Energy Advances |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue number | 10 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Oct 9 2025 |
Funding
This material is based upon work supported by Virginia Commonwealth University, National Science Foundation (Grant No. CMMI-1940948) and U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (award DE-EE0009110). Research conducted at ORNL was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division. This manuscript has been authored by UTBattelle, LLC, under Contract No. DEAC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The U.S. Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the U.S. Government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for U.S. Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (https://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan). Mingyao Mou and Sophie Kothie are acknowledged for providing the slug flow co-precipitation technology developed in Mo Jiang Lab.