Controlling the Primary Particle of High-Nickel Cobalt-Free Cathodes for Highly Stable Lithium-Ion Batteries

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are bright energy-storage devices owing to their superior energy density and low memory effects. High-nickel cobalt-free Li[Ni_0.9Mn_0.1]O₂ (NM90) is a promising cathode material owing to its high energy density, low cost, and nontoxicity. However, high-Ni cathodes suffer from cation disordering and short lifecycle properties. Therefore, we fabricated well-aligned primary particles by controlling the concentration of chelating agents during co-precipitation. Appropriately aligned primary particles facilitated the transport of lithium ions, and the Mn ions in NM90 provided frameworks with highly stable structures. The fabricated NM90_4.8 M electrodes exhibited superior cathode performances, including a noticeable specific capacity of 149.9 mAh/g with an outstanding capacity retention of 87.4% after 100 cycles during a current density of 1C and a superior discharge specific capacity of 196.1 mAh/g at a current density of 0.2C. The NM90_4.8 M cathode can provide the next-generation active materials that afford long-life and ultrafast LIBs, which are discussed in terms of cost efficiency.