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Effect of Mg and Al cosubstitution on the structure and electrochemical performance of a Co-free LiNiO2 cathode material

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Abstract

A LiNiO2 cathode material was cosubstituted with Mg and Al to obtain LiNi0.90Mg0.05Al0.05O2 via solid-state sintering of a mixture containing stoichiometric amounts of Ni(OH)2 precursor, LiOH·H2O, MgO, and Al2O3. The number of Li/Ni anti-site defects shown by X-ray diffraction was significantly reduced after cosubstitution of Mg and Al, and a 2–3 nm spinel-like structure was directly observed on the surface of LiNi0.90Mg0.05Al0.05O2 by Cs-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy. This cosubstitution-induced structural modification enhanced the stability of the material during cycling. The LiNi0.90Mg0.05Al0.05O2 half-cell showed an initial capacity of 210.8 mAh/g at 0.1 C (2.75–4.3 V) and excellent capacity retention of ~ 93.1% after 300 subsequent cycles at 1 C. In contrast, the bare LiNiO2 half-cell exhibited a capacity retention of only ~ 23.4% under the same cycling conditions, despite a high initial specific capacity of 238.1 mAh/g. Furthermore, the LiNi0.90Mg0.05Al0.05O2 half-cell also showed a much better rate performance than its bare LiNiO2 counterpart, with capacity retention levels at 5 C of 68.1% for the former and only 5.2% for the latter.

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All data included in this study are available upon request by contact with the corresponding author.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by YLU-DNL fund (Grant No. 2021002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yulin University, Yulin, 719000, China

    Ni Bai, Yongchao Qi, Dandan Guo & Aimin Wang

  2. College of Energy Engineering, Yulin University, Yulin, 719000, China

    Zhiyong Sun

  3. Center Testing International Co., LTD (CTI), **ng Dong Community, **n’an Sub-District, Bao’an District, Shenzhen, 518101, Guangdong, China

    Guilin Chen

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Contributions

All authors contributed to study conception and design. Material preparation was performed by NB, YQ, and DG. Data collection and analysis were performed by ZS. The first draft of the manuscript was written by GC and AW. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. Final manuscript read and approved by all authors.

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Correspondence to Guilin Chen or Aimin Wang.

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Bai, N., Qi, Y., Sun, Z. et al. Effect of Mg and Al cosubstitution on the structure and electrochemical performance of a Co-free LiNiO2 cathode material. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 33, 18533–18543 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-022-08705-9

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