Ans, M. orcid.org/0000-0002-1312-3304, Pandey, G.C. orcid.org/0000-0001-9823-1672, McClelland, I. orcid.org/0000-0001-9821-715X et al. (12 more authors) (2025) Operando x‐ray and postmortem investigations of high‐voltage electrochemical degradation in single‐crystal‐LiNiO2–graphite cells. Advanced Energy Materials. ISSN 1614-6832
Abstract
Single-crystalline LiNiO2 (SC-LNO), a high-energy-density Li-ion cathode material, suffers from poor long-term electrochemical performance when cycled above 4.2 V (vs Li+/Li). In this study, this degradation is evaluated using SC-LNO–graphite pouch cells electrochemically aged within a stressful voltage window (2.5–4.4 V) using a constant-current constant-voltage (CC-CV) protocol. Notable capacity fade is observed after one hundred cycles at C/3 rate, in addition to an increase in the overall electrochemical cell impedance. Operando X-ray diffraction data reveal that, despite no significant long-range bulk structural changes, (de-)lithiation of the aged SC-LNO becomes kinetically hindered after 100 cycles. Aging-induced changes in the short-range structure and charge compensation are evaluated through a multi-model quantitative analysis of the operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy data. While the electrochemical aging does not result in particle cracking, soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy data revealed the reconstruction of the cathode surface to a dense rock salt-like layer after long-term cycling, which acts as a kinetic trap for Li+ diffusion. Therefore, even under stressful conditions, it is the surface reconstruction that dominates the overall cathode degradation by reducing the Li+ mobility and leading to the capacity fade. Cathode surface engineering will therefore be key to improving the long-term electrochemical performance of SC-LNO cathodes.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2025 The Authors. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | cathode degradation; Ni-rich layered oxide cathodes; operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy; operando X-ray diffraction; single-crystalline LiNiO2 |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 27 May 2025 09:35 |
Last Modified: | 27 May 2025 09:35 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.202500597 |
Status: | Published online |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1002/aenm.202500597 |
Related URLs: | |
Sustainable Development Goals: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:227108 |