Reversible planar gliding and microcracking in a single-crystalline Ni-rich cathode
High-energy nickel (Ni)–rich cathode will play a key role in advanced lithium (Li)–ion batteries, but it suffers from moisture sensitivity, side reactions, and gas generation. Single-crystalline Ni-rich cathode has a great potential to address the challenges present in its polycrystalline counterpart by reducing phase boundaries and materials surfaces. However, synthesis of high-performance single-crystalline Ni-rich cathode is very challenging, notwithstanding a fundamental linkage between overpotential, microstructure, and electrochemical behaviors in single-crystalline Ni-rich cathodes. We observe reversible planar gliding and microcracking along the (003) plane in a single-crystalline Ni-rich cathode. The reversible formation of microstructure defects is correlated with the localized stresses induced by a concentration gradient of Li atoms in the lattice, providing clues to mitigate particle fracture from synthesis modifications.
Source: ScienceNOW - Category: Science Authors: Bi, Y., Tao, J., Wu, Y., Li, L., Xu, Y., Hu, E., Wu, B., Hu, J., Wang, C., Zhang, J.-G., Qi, Y., Xiao, J. Tags: Materials Science reports Source Type: news