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Nano Research Energy 2022, 1: 9120016 https://doi.org/10.26599/NRE.2022.9120016
Research Article | Open Access | Issue | Published: 24 June 2022

Tailoring the LiNbO3 coating of Ni-rich cathode materials for stable and high-performance all-solid-state batteries

Show Author's Information Seyedhosein Payandeh1( ),  Florian Strauss1,  Andrey Mazilkin1,2,  Aleksandr Kondrakov1,3,  Torsten Brezesinski1( )
Battery and Electrochemistry Laboratory, Institute of Nanotechnology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
Karlsruhe Nano Micro Facility, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
BASF SE, Carl-Bosch-Str. 38, 67056 Ludwigshafen, Germany
Keywords:
side reactions, solid-state battery, layered Ni-rich oxide cathode, superionic solid electrolyte, protective surface coating
Cite this article:
Payandeh S, Strauss F, Mazilkin A, et al. Tailoring the LiNbO3 coating of Ni-rich cathode materials for stable and high-performance all-solid-state batteries. Nano Research Energy, 2022, 1: 9120016. https://doi.org/10.26599/NRE.2022.9120016
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

The research and development of advanced nanocoatings for high-capacity cathode materials is currently a hot topic in the field of solid-state batteries (SSBs). Protective surface coatings prevent direct contact between the cathode material and solid electrolyte, thereby inhibiting detrimental interfacial decomposition reactions. This is particularly important when using lithium thiophosphate superionic solid electrolytes, as these materials exhibit a narrow electrochemical stability window, and therefore, are prone to degradation during battery operation. Herein we show that the cycling performance of LiNbO3-coated Ni-rich LiNixCoyMnzO2 cathode materials is strongly dependent on the sample history and (coating) synthesis conditions. We demonstrate that post-treatment in a pure oxygen atmosphere at 350 ℃ results in the formation of a surface layer with a unique microstructure, consisting of LiNbO3 nanoparticles distributed in a carbonate matrix. If tested at 45 ℃ and C/5 rate in pellet-stack SSB full cells with Li4Ti5O12 and Li6PS5Cl as anode material and solid electrolyte, respectively, around 80% of the initial specific discharge capacity is retained after 200 cycles (~ 160 mAh·g−1, ~ 1.7 mAh·cm−2). Our results highlight the importance of tailoring the coating chemistry to the electrode material(s) for practical SSB applications.


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About this article

Tailoring the LiNbO3 coating of Ni-rich cathode materials for stable and high-performance all-solid-state batteries

Show Author's information Seyedhosein Payandeh1( ), Florian Strauss1, Andrey Mazilkin1,2, Aleksandr Kondrakov1,3, Torsten Brezesinski1( )
Battery and Electrochemistry Laboratory, Institute of Nanotechnology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
Karlsruhe Nano Micro Facility, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
BASF SE, Carl-Bosch-Str. 38, 67056 Ludwigshafen, Germany

Abstract

The research and development of advanced nanocoatings for high-capacity cathode materials is currently a hot topic in the field of solid-state batteries (SSBs). Protective surface coatings prevent direct contact between the cathode material and solid electrolyte, thereby inhibiting detrimental interfacial decomposition reactions. This is particularly important when using lithium thiophosphate superionic solid electrolytes, as these materials exhibit a narrow electrochemical stability window, and therefore, are prone to degradation during battery operation. Herein we show that the cycling performance of LiNbO3-coated Ni-rich LiNixCoyMnzO2 cathode materials is strongly dependent on the sample history and (coating) synthesis conditions. We demonstrate that post-treatment in a pure oxygen atmosphere at 350 ℃ results in the formation of a surface layer with a unique microstructure, consisting of LiNbO3 nanoparticles distributed in a carbonate matrix. If tested at 45 ℃ and C/5 rate in pellet-stack SSB full cells with Li4Ti5O12 and Li6PS5Cl as anode material and solid electrolyte, respectively, around 80% of the initial specific discharge capacity is retained after 200 cycles (~ 160 mAh·g−1, ~ 1.7 mAh·cm−2). Our results highlight the importance of tailoring the coating chemistry to the electrode material(s) for practical SSB applications.

Keywords: side reactions, solid-state battery, layered Ni-rich oxide cathode, superionic solid electrolyte, protective surface coating

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Publication history

Received: 22 April 2022
Revised: 25 May 2022
Accepted: 27 May 2022
Published: 24 June 2022
Issue date: December 2022

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© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Tsinghua University Press.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by BASF SE. F. S. acknowledges the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie im Verband der Chemischen Industrie e. V. for financial support through a Liebig fellowship. The authors acknowledge the support from the Karlsruhe Nano Micro Facility (KNMFi, www.knmf.kit.edu), a Helmholtz research infrastructure at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT, www.kit.edu). We also thank D. Goonetilleke and R. Zhang for assistance with the XRD measurements and analysis, as well as M. Bianchini for fruitful discussions.

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