Enhancing the Electrochemical Properties of LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 with ZrO2 Surface Coating

Ni-rich transition metal oxides have high energy density and are promising cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries. However, the capacity of Li-ion batteries decays rapidly due to side reactions at the electrode-electrolyte interface with electrolyte erosion of the material. Surface modification can be used to alleviate these conditions. Here, we report the cathode material modified by ZrO2 coating, which prevents the active material from being corroded by the electrolyte and thus can significantly inhibit the interfacial side reactions between the cathode and the electrolyte. Leveraging these advantages, ZrO2-coated LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 achieves 85.8 % capacity retention at 1 C rate after 100 cycles. This modification method is an important advance and is expected to be used in the research of high-performance cathode materials.