Studies of Nickel-Rich LiNiCoMnO Cathode Materials Doped with Molybdenum Ions for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

In this work, we continued our systematic investigations on synthesis, structural studies, and electrochemical behavior of Ni-rich materials Li[NiCoMn]O (x + y + z = 1; x ≥ 0.8) for advanced lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). We focused, herein, on LiNiCoMnO (NCM85) and demonstrated that doping this material with high-charge cation Mo (1 at. %, by a minor nickel substitution) results in substantially stable cycling performance, increased rate capability, lowering of the voltage hysteresis, and impedance in Li-cells with EC-EMC/LiPF solutions. Incorporation of Mo-dopant into the NCM85 structure was carried out by in-situ approach, upon the synthesis using ammonium molybdate as the precursor. From X-ray diffraction studies and based on our previous investigation of Mo-doped NCM523 and Ni-rich NCM811 materials, it was revealed that Mo preferably substitutes Ni residing either in or sites. We correlated the improved behavior of the doped NCM85 electrode materials in Li-cells with a partial Mo segregation at the surface and at the grain boundaries, a tendency established previously in our lab for the other members of the Li[NiCoMn]O family.