Synthesis and Improved Electrochemical Performance of Al(OH)3-coated Li[Ni1/3Co1/3Mn1/3]O2 Cathode Materials at elevated temperrature and discharge rate

Abstract

Recently, layer-structured Li[Ni1/3Co1/3Mn1/3]O2 has been shown to be the most promising alternative materials for LiCoO2 in terms of its charge / dis-charge voltage, capacity, cycleability, thermal stability, and material cost. However, there are still lower rate capability and tap density concerns existent compared with LiCoO2. Inferior rate capability arises from lower electronic conductivity of Li[Ni1/3Co1/3Mn1/3]O2. One approach to improve the electrochemical performance is to modify the surface properties of the cathode materials by coating its particle with metal hydroxide to prevent dissolution of transition metals and unwanted reactions between cathode and electrolyte. It has been well known that the surface treatment of electrode active materials by coating with various metal oxide such as ZnO, Al2O3, ZrO2, TiO2, and SiO2 have much improved the electrochemical performance at high temperature. However, to our best knowledge so far. So, we report the synthesis of spherical Li[Ni1/3Co1/3Mn1/3]O2 powders and the improved electrochemical performance of the materials by coating Al(OH)3 in this work.