Effect of Particle Size and Doping on the Electrochemical Characteristics of Ca-doped LiCoO2 Cathodes

Lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2, LCO) has been widely used as a cathode material for Li-ion batteries (LIBs) owing to its excellent electrochemical performance and highly reproducible synthesis even with mass production. To improve the energy density of the LIBs for their deployment in electro-mobility, the full capacity and voltage of the cathode materials need to exploited, especially by operating them at a higher voltage. Herein, we doped LCO with divalent calcium-ion (Ca2+) to stabilize its layered structure during the batteries' operation. The Ca-doped LCO was synthesized by two different routes, namely solid-state and co-precipitation methods, which led to different average particle sizes and levels of dopant's homogeneity. Of these two, the solid-state synthesis resulted in smaller particles with a better homogeneity of the dopant, which led to better electrochemical performance, specifically when operated at a high voltage of 4.5 V. Electrochemical simulations based on a single particle model provided theoretical corroboration for the positive effects of the reduced particle size on the higher rate capability.