Li‐rich oxide cathodes are of prime importance for the development of high‐energy lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs). Li‐rich layered oxides, however, always undergo irreversible structural evolution, leading to inevitable capacity and voltage decay during cycling. Meanwhile, Li‐rich cation‐disordered rock‐salt oxides usually exhibit sluggish kinetics and inferior cycling stability, despite their firm structure and stable voltage output. Herein, a new Li‐rich rock‐salt oxide Li2Ni1/3Ru2/3O3with
Cation‐disordered lithium‐excess metal oxides have recently emerged as a promising new class of high‐energy‐density cathode materials for Li‐ion batteries, but the exploration of disordered materials has been hampered by their vast and unexplored composition space. This study proposes a practical methodology for the identification of stable cation‐disordered rocksalts. Here, it is established that the efficient method, which makes use of special quasirandom structures, correctly predicts cation‐ordering strengths in agreement with accurate Monte‐Carlo simulations and experimental observations. By applying the approach to the composition space of ternary oxides with formula unit Li
- PAR ID:
- 10235148
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Advanced Energy Materials
- Volume:
- 6
- Issue:
- 15
- ISSN:
- 1614-6832
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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A New Type of Li‐Rich Rock‐Salt Oxide Li 2 Ni 1/3 Ru 2/3 O 3 with Reversible Anionic Redox Chemistry
Abstract Fd ‐3m space group, where partial cation‐ordering arrangement exists in cationic sites, is reported. Results demonstrate that a cathode fabricated from Li2Ni1/3Ru2/3O3delivers a large capacity, outstanding rate capability as well as good cycling performance with negligible voltage decay, in contrast to the common cations disordered oxides with space groupFm ‐3m . First principle calculations also indicate that rock‐salt oxide with space groupFd ‐3m possesses oxygen activity potential at the state of delithiation, and good kinetics with more 0‐TM (TM = transition metals) percolation networks. In situ Raman results confirm the reversible anionic redox chemistry, confirming O2−/O−evolution during cycles in Li‐rich rock‐salt cathode for the first time. These findings open up the opportunity to design high‐performance oxide cathodes and promote the development of high‐energy LIBs. -
Abstract The recent discovery of Li‐excess cation‐disordered rock salt cathodes has greatly enlarged the design space of Li‐ion cathode materials. Evidence of facile lattice fluorine substitution for oxygen has further provided an important strategy to enhance the cycling performance of this class of materials. Here, a group of Mn3+–Nb5+‐based cation‐disordered oxyfluorides, Li1.2Mn3+0.6+0.5
x Nb5+0.2−0.5x O2−x Fx (x = 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2) is investigated and it is found that fluorination improves capacity retention in a very significant way. Combining spectroscopic methods and ab initio calculations, it is demonstrated that the increased transition‐metal redox (Mn3+/Mn4+) capacity that can be accommodated upon fluorination reduces reliance on oxygen redox and leads to less oxygen loss, as evidenced by differential electrochemical mass spectroscopy measurements. Furthermore, it is found that fluorine substitution also decreases the Mn3+‐induced Jahn–Teller distortion, leading to an orbital rearrangement that further increases the contribution of Mn‐redox capacity to the overall capacity. -
Abstract Mn‐redox‐based oxides and oxyfluorides are considered the most promising earth‐abundant high‐energy cathode materials for next‐generation lithium‐ion batteries. While high capacities are obtained in high‐Mn content cathodes such as Li‐ and Mn‐rich layered and spinel‐type materials, local structure changes and structural distortions ( often lead to voltage fade, capacity decay, and impedance rise, resulting in unacceptable electrochemical performance upon cycling. In the present study, structural transformations that exploit the high capacity of Mn‐rich oxyfluorides while enabling stable cycling, in stark contrast to commonly observed structural changes that result in rapid performance degradation, are reported. It is shown that upon cycling of a cation‐disordered rocksalt (DRX) cathode (Li1.1Mn0.8Ti0.1O1.9F0.1, an ultrahigh capacity of ≈320 mAh g−1(energy density of ≈900 Wh kg−1) can be obtained through dynamic structural rearrangements upon cycling , along with a unique voltage profile evolution and capacity rise. At high voltage, the presence of Mn4+and Li+vacancies promotes local cation ordering, leading to the formation of domains of a “
δ phase” within the disordered framework. On deep discharge, Mn4+reduction, along with Li+insertion transform the structure to a partially ordered DRX phase with aβ ′‐LiFeO2‐type arrangement. At the nanoscale, domains of the in situ formed phases are randomly oriented, allowing highly reversible structural changes and stable electrochemical cycling. These new insights not only help explain the superior electrochemical performance of high‐Mn DRXbut also provide guidance for the future development of Mn‐based, high‐energy density oxide, and oxyfluoride cathode materials. -
Abstract Li‐excess disordered rocksalts (DRXs) are emerging as promising cathode materials for Li‐ion batteries due to their ability to use earth‐abundant transition metals. In this work, a new strategy based on partial Li deficiency engineering is introduced to optimize the overall electrochemical performance of DRX cathodes. Specifically, by using Mn‐based DRX as a proof‐of‐concept, it is demonstrated that the introduction of cation vacancies during synthesis (e.g., Li1.3‐
x Mn2+0.4‐x Mn3+x Nb0.3O1.6F0.4,x = 0, 0.2, and 0.4) improves both the discharge capacity and rate performance due to the more favored short‐range order in the presence of Mn3+. Density functional theory calculations and Monte Carlo simulations, in combination with spectroscopic tools, reveal that introducing 10% vacancies (Li1.1Mn2+0.2Mn3+0.2Nb0.3O1.6F0.4) enables both Mn2+/Mn3+redox and excellent Li percolation. However, a more aggressive vacancy doping (e.g., 20% vacancies in Li0.9Mn3+0.4Nb0.3O1.6F0.4) impairs performance because it induces phase separation between an Mn‐rich and a Li‐rich phase. -
Li‐rich rocksalt oxides are promising cathode materials for lithium‐ion batteries due to their large capacity and energy density, and their ability to use earth‐abundant elements. The excess Li in the rocksalt, needed to achieve good Li transport, reduces the theoretical transition metal redox capacity and introduces a labile oxygen state, both of which lead to increased oxygen oxidation and concomitant capacity loss with cycling. Herein, it is demonstrated that substituting the labile oxygen in Li‐rich cation‐disordered rocksalt materials with a vacancy is an effective strategy to inhibit oxygen oxidation. It is found that the oxygen vacancy in cation‐disordered lithium manganese oxide favors high Li coordination thereby reducing the concentration of unhybridized oxygen states, while increasing the theoretical Mn capacity. It is shown that in the vacancy‐containing compound, synthesized by ball milling, the Mn valence is lowered to less than +3, providing access to more than 300 mAh g−1capacity from the Mn2+/Mn4+redox reservoir. The increased transition metal redox and decreased O oxidation are found to improve the capacity and voltage retention, indicating that oxygen vacancy creation to remove the most vulnerable oxygen ions and reduce transition metal valence provides a new opportunity for the design of high‐performance Li‐rich rocksalt cathodes.