Issue 25, 2023

A boron-nitride based dispersive composite coating on nickel-rich layered cathodes for enhanced cycle stability and safety

Abstract

While Ni-rich cathodes have been widely adopted in high-energy lithium-ion batteries, there remains room for improvement regarding their cycle stability and safety. Herein, hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is demonstrated, for the first time, to be an effective surface modification additive for Ni-rich cathodes. The h-BN coated Ni-rich cathode, prepared via a rapid low-temperature post-calcination process, shows markedly improved cycle stability and safety with only a trace amount of h-BN being added (1 wt% relative to the cathode oxide). Systematic synchrotron post-mortem and operando X-ray analyses reveal that the improvements could be attributed to the anion-trapping ability of the B atoms in h-BN, which mitigates surface Ni-ion reduction and carbonate accumulation caused by electrolyte corrosion during both cycling and thermal runaway. Furthermore, the high thermal conductivity of h-BN contributes to efficient heat dissipation during the early stages of thermal runaway and therefore delays the onset temperature. This work identifies h-BN as well as the concept of “anion-trapping” as promising strategies for enhancing the cycle life and safety of Ni-rich cathodes and presents an industrially facile method to accomplish such applications.

Graphical abstract: A boron-nitride based dispersive composite coating on nickel-rich layered cathodes for enhanced cycle stability and safety

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
11 Mar 2023
Accepted
15 May 2023
First published
16 May 2023

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2023,11, 13309-13319

A boron-nitride based dispersive composite coating on nickel-rich layered cathodes for enhanced cycle stability and safety

H. Chen, Y. Chen, H. Liu, S. Chang, C. Liao, S. Parthasarathi, S. Bolloju, Y. Weng, J. Lee, J. Chen, H. Sheu, C. Pao and N. Wu, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2023, 11, 13309 DOI: 10.1039/D3TA01500A

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