Development of Single-Crystalline Ni-rich Cathode Materials of Advanced Li-Ion Batteries

Time period:

18 January 2021 – 31 December 2023

Funder:

Swedish Energy Agency

Type of award:

Project grant

Total funding:

4,725,000 SEK

Among the various cathodes of Li-ion batteries (LIBs), NMC811 (LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2) is particularly attractive owing to its high reversible capacity and the relatively low cost and environmental impact due to its lower cobalt content. However, NMC811 is suffering from poor cycle life due to structure and electrode/electrolyte interface instabilities. To address the challenges, developing single-crystalline NMC811 (SC-NMC811) is considered an effective strategy because of the superior capacity retention resulting from the intrinsic integrity of single-crystalline particles. This project plans to adopt cooperative strategies combining controlling synthesis conditions, doping and surface modification to be able to simultaneously tune structural and morphological characteristics of SC-NMC811 cathodes for long-life and high energy-density LIBs. Rapid advancements in single-crystalline cathodes is a critical step to enable large-scale commercial deployment of NMC811 in electric vehicle.