Graphene collage on Ni-rich layered oxide cathodes for advanced lithium-ion batteries

The energy storage performance of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) depends on the electrode capacity and electrode/cell design parameters, which have previously been addressed separately, leading to a failure in practical implementation. Here, we show how conformal graphene (Gr) coating on Ni-rich oxides enables the fabrication of highly packed cathodes containing a high content of active material (similar to 99 wt%) without conventional conducting agents. With 99 wt% LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 (NCA) and electrode density of similar to 4.3 g cm(-3), the Gr-coated NCA cathode delivers a high areal capacity, similar to 5.4 mAh cm(-2) (similar to 38% increase) and high volumetric capacity, similar to 863 mAh cm(-3) (similar to 34% increase) at a current rate of 0.2 C (similar to 1.1 mA cm(-2)); this surpasses the bare electrode approaching a commercial level of electrode setting (96 wt% NCA; similar to 3.3 g cm(-3)). Our findings offer a combinatorial avenue for materials engineering and electrode design toward advanced LIB cathodes.

Automated summary

The study demonstrates that coating graphene on nickel-rich oxides enables the fabrication of highly packed cathodes with a high content of active material, leading to improved energy storage performance of lithium-ion batteries.