High-capacity Lithium-rich Cathode Materials for High-energy Lithium-ion Batteries

Professor Chen, Yue   (Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI) (for projects led by other university))

Professor Chen Yue   (Co-principal investigator)

36

2025-06-30

240000

High-capacity Lithium-rich Cathode Materials for High-energy Lithium-ion Batteries

Lithium-rich oxides, Electric Vehicles, Synchrotron, Lithium-ion batteries, Neutron

Materials Sciences

Engineering (E)

C1002-24Y

Collaborative Research Fund (CRF) - Group Research Project 2024/2025

2024

On-going

1) To realize high-performance of O3-type cobalt-free Lithium-rich cathode materials (LLOs) with high-capacity (i.e., ≥250 mAh g-1 at 1 C), suppressed voltage decay (i.e., ≤0.2 mV per cycle) and high capacity retention (i.e., ≥90% over 500 cycles).2) To fundamentally understand the voltage decay mechanisms of O3-type LLOs associated with the structural dynamics of honeycomb LiMn6 ordered structure, O-O dimers, interlayer distance, etc. via state-of-the-art synchrotron and neutron scatterings, various spectroscopic techniques combined with first-principles calculations.3) To develop a series of partially fluorinated electrolytes designed specifically for LLOs, facilitating high-voltage operation. These electrolytes will achieve a coulombic efficiency (CE) of 99.9% and extend the cycle life to 500 cycles, significantly surpassing state-of-art standards. Moreover, our designed electrolytes will boost the rate performance due to significantly reduced interfacial resistance (>10 times reduction) compared to commercial electrolytes.4) To gain a fundamental understanding of the cathode electrolyte interphase (CEI) formation and its evolutionary mechanisms, we aim to correlate the solvation structure of the electrolyte with the composition and structure of the CEI. This correlation will provide insights that enable further refinement of the electrolytes, ensuring they are optimally tailored based on the detailed composition of the CEI.5) To fabricate and optimize the full-size power batteries consisting of synthesized O3-type LLOs, designed high-voltage electrolytes and novel silicon anodes with excellent overall electrochemical performance such as capacity retention above 90% after 500 cycles (or above 80% after 1000 cycles).