Surface in-situ reconstruction of LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 cathode materials interacting with antimony compounds and the electrochemical performances

Interfacial stability is regarded as one of the greatest challenges in the commercialization of Ni-rich layered cathode materials for lithium battery. Surface modification can solve these issues to obtain superior electrochemical performances. Herein, LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 (NCM811) cathode surface is reconstructed by a simple solid-state method using antimony oxides as modified agents. The modified mechanisms study show that the antimony oxides (Sb2O5) can react with the surface lithium residues effectively and partial surface lattice lithium on the NCM811 surface to further construct the LiSbO3/Li-Sb-Me-O (Me = Ni, Co, Mn) mixed coating layers. The uniform coating layer is mainly ascribed to the droplet spreading behaviors of the low smelting antimony oxides. The electrochemical measurements show that the Sb-modified NCM811 electrodes deliver 90.27% (180 mA g(-1)) and 96.07% (1440 mA g(-1)) capacity retentions over 3.0-4.3 V after 200 cycles, respectively, which are higher than 77.40 and 74.75% of the bare NCM811. The enhanced electrochemical performances are mainly benefitted to the enhanced the lithium transportation, the suppressed impedances increase and the more stable crystal structure.