Effects of Morphological Collapse of Sphere Secondary Particles on Electrochemical Properties of a LiNi0.83Co0.11Mn0.06O2 Cathode Material for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Li[NixCoyMnz]O-2 (LiNCM) is one of the candidate cathode material that can replace the currently commercialized LiCoO2 (LCO) cathode material for lithium-ion batteries (LiBs). The morphological feature having primary particle and secondary sphere particle could affect structural stability, tap density and electrochemical performance of LiNCM. In this work, two LiNCM particles without or with the morphological collapse of the secondary particles were prepared by using a co-precipitation-assisted, solid-phase method and ball milling, and its morphological, structural and electrochemical characteristics were evaluated. The results of XRD, and FESEM demonstrated that the as-prepared two LiNCMs have a typical alpha-NaFeO2 layered structure and the two morphological features of secondary particles needed in this study. The results of electrochemical properties indicated that the LiNCM electrode without collapsed secondary particles have a good stability in cycle performance compared to that with collapse of secondary particles at 0.5, 1.0 and 2 C-rate. The capacity retention of without and with collapsed NCM was 55.8% and 27.3% after 200 cycles at 1 C-rate, respectively.