{"title":"Carbon-encapsulated Li2NiO2 lithium compensator: decoding failure mechanisms and enabling high-performance pouch cells","authors":"Han-Xin Wei, Jing-Ju Liu, Jia-Rui Liu, Zi-Qian Xiang, Yu-Tao Liu, Kuo Chen, Luo-Jia Chen, Jin Cai, Jiang-Feng Wang, Chuan-Ping Wu, Bao-Hui Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.jechem.2025.03.006","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Li<sub>2</sub>NiO<sub>2</sub> has emerged as a promising cathode pre-lithiation additive capable of substantially enhancing the energy density and cycling durability of next-generation lithium-ion batteries. However, its practical deployment is hindered by intrinsic surface structural instability under ambient conditions. Although prior studies have reported residual alkali formation on Li<sub>2</sub>NiO<sub>2</sub> surfaces and proposed coating strategies, critical knowledge gaps persist regarding the temporal evolution of alkali byproducts and industrially viable modification approaches. Through multiscale in situ characterizations combining X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), we reveal a stratified residual alkali architecture: the inner layer predominantly comprises Li<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> while the outer layer is dominated by LiOH, despite minimal bulk structural alterations. Leveraging these insights, we developed a facile carbon-coating strategy enabling scalable synthesis of hundred-gram batches. The conformal carbon layer effectively mitigates structural degradation and suppresses alkali formation, facilitating the integration of high-content pre-lithiation additives. LiFePO<sub>4</sub>||graphite pouch cells incorporating 2.5% modified Li<sub>2</sub>NiO<sub>2</sub> demonstrate enhanced specific capacity with exceptional stability—exhibiting negligible energy decay (99.58% retention) over 500 cycles at 0.5P and maintaining 81.15% energy retention under aggressive 4P/4P cycling conditions over 1000 cycles. Remarkably, pouch cells with 8% additive loading achieve zero energy density decay after 1000 cycles at 4P/4P. This work provides a practical and scalable solution for advancing high-energy–density lithium-ion battery technologies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15728,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Energy Chemistry","volume":"106 ","pages":"Pages 387-397"},"PeriodicalIF":13.1000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Energy Chemistry","FirstCategoryId":"92","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095495625002074","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"Energy","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Li2NiO2 has emerged as a promising cathode pre-lithiation additive capable of substantially enhancing the energy density and cycling durability of next-generation lithium-ion batteries. However, its practical deployment is hindered by intrinsic surface structural instability under ambient conditions. Although prior studies have reported residual alkali formation on Li2NiO2 surfaces and proposed coating strategies, critical knowledge gaps persist regarding the temporal evolution of alkali byproducts and industrially viable modification approaches. Through multiscale in situ characterizations combining X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), we reveal a stratified residual alkali architecture: the inner layer predominantly comprises Li2CO3 while the outer layer is dominated by LiOH, despite minimal bulk structural alterations. Leveraging these insights, we developed a facile carbon-coating strategy enabling scalable synthesis of hundred-gram batches. The conformal carbon layer effectively mitigates structural degradation and suppresses alkali formation, facilitating the integration of high-content pre-lithiation additives. LiFePO4||graphite pouch cells incorporating 2.5% modified Li2NiO2 demonstrate enhanced specific capacity with exceptional stability—exhibiting negligible energy decay (99.58% retention) over 500 cycles at 0.5P and maintaining 81.15% energy retention under aggressive 4P/4P cycling conditions over 1000 cycles. Remarkably, pouch cells with 8% additive loading achieve zero energy density decay after 1000 cycles at 4P/4P. This work provides a practical and scalable solution for advancing high-energy–density lithium-ion battery technologies.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Energy Chemistry, the official publication of Science Press and the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, serves as a platform for reporting creative research and innovative applications in energy chemistry. It mainly reports on creative researches and innovative applications of chemical conversions of fossil energy, carbon dioxide, electrochemical energy and hydrogen energy, as well as the conversions of biomass and solar energy related with chemical issues to promote academic exchanges in the field of energy chemistry and to accelerate the exploration, research and development of energy science and technologies.
This journal focuses on original research papers covering various topics within energy chemistry worldwide, including:
Optimized utilization of fossil energy
Hydrogen energy
Conversion and storage of electrochemical energy
Capture, storage, and chemical conversion of carbon dioxide
Materials and nanotechnologies for energy conversion and storage
Chemistry in biomass conversion
Chemistry in the utilization of solar energy