Improvement of long-term cycling performance of high-nickel cathode materials by ZnO coating

The high-nickel cathode material of LiNi_0.8Co_0.15Al_0.05O₂ (LNCA) has a prospective application for lithium-ion batteries due to the high capacity and low cost. However, the side reaction between the electrolyte and the electrode seriously affects the cycling stability of lithium-ion batteries. In this work, Ni²⁺ preoxidation and the optimization of calcination temperature were carried out to reduce the cation mixing of LNCA, and solid-phase Al-doping improved the uniformity of element distribution and the orderliness of the layered structure. In addition, the surface of LNCA was homogeneously modified with ZnO coating by a facile wet-chemical route. Compared to the pristine LNCA, the optimized ZnO-coated LNCA showed excellent electrochemical performance with the first discharge-specific capacity of 187.5 mA h g^-1, and the capacity retention of 91.3% at 0.2C after 100 cycles. The experiment demonstrated that the improved electrochemical performance of ZnO-coated LNCA is assigned to the surface coating of ZnO which protects LNCA from being corroded by the electrolyte during cycling.