High-entropy Li-rich layered oxide cathode for Li-ion batteries

High-entropy oxides (HEOs) are emerging as promising cathode materials for Li-ion batteries (LIBs) due to their stable solid-state phase and compositional flexibility. Herein, we investigate the structural and electrochemical properties of a novel non-equimolar high-entropy cathode material, termed high-entropy Li-rich layered oxide (HE-LLO, Li1.15Na0.05Ni0.19Mn0.56Fe0.02Mg0.02Al0.02O1.97F0.03), in comparison to a pristine Li-rich layered oxide (PR-LLO, Li1.2Ni0.2Mn0.6O2). The incorporation of multiple cations (Na+, Al3+, Mg2+, Fe3+) and anion (F-) into HE-LLO introduces compositional diversity, enhancing structural stability through the entropy stabilization effect. Theoretical calculations confirm a significantly higher configurational entropy in HE-LLO compared to PRLLO, supporting its high-entropy nature. Electrochemical evaluations demonstrate that HE-LLO exhibits considerable capacity retention, preserving 76.8 % of its discharge capacity at 0.5C after 200 cycles, compared to only 36.2 % for PR-LLO. Even under high-temperature conditions, HE-LLO outperformed PR-LLO, maintaining 76.1 % of its discharge capacity after 100 cycles at 5C, while PR-LLO retained only 12.4 %. These enhancements are attributed to the improved phase reversibility and higher Li+ ion diffusion coefficients of HE-LLO, validated by ex-situ characterizations using a synchrotron X-ray technique, along with density functional theory (DFT) calculations. These findings highlight the promise of non-equimolar HEOs as a novel design strategy for highperformance cathode materials.