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A high-quality mechanofusion coating for enhancing lithium-ion battery cathode material performance

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Abstract

Lithium (Li)-ion battery cathode materials are typically coated to improve cycling performance, using aqueous-based coating techniques that require filtering, drying, and even sintering of the final product. Here, spherical LiNi0.6Mn0.2Co0.2O2 particles were coated with nano-Al2O3 using the dry mechanofusion method. This method produced a durable, non-porous Al2O3 coating that is retained during slurry making. Mechanofusion coatings significantly improved Li-ion battery cathode cycling at high voltages, enabling high energy densities, while offering inexpensive, scalable, and environmentally friendly solvent-free synthesis. This opens up new possibilities, since, not being limited by synthesis chemistry, mechanofusion can in principle be used to apply any coating material.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors acknowledge funding from NSERC and 3M Canada, Co. under the auspices of the Industrial Research Chair and Discovery Grant Programs. The authors also thank Dr. Jeff Dahn for the use of his pycnometry equipment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S., B3H 4R2, Canada

    Lituo Zheng, T. D. Hatchard & M. N. Obrovac

  2. Department of Physics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S., B3H 4R2, Canada

    M. N. Obrovac

Authors
  1. Lituo Zheng
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  2. T. D. Hatchard
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  3. M. N. Obrovac
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Correspondence to M. N. Obrovac.

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Zheng, L., Hatchard, T.D. & Obrovac, M.N. A high-quality mechanofusion coating for enhancing lithium-ion battery cathode material performance. MRS Communications 9, 245–250 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2018.209

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2018.209

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