Tailored Cathode Chemistry for Next-Generation Lithium-ion Batteries

The U.S. transportation sector is experiencing a quickening transition to electric mobility. The EV market is projected to grow to over 25 million vehicles by 2030, causing the demand for Li-ion batteries (LiBs) to increase from 160 GWh in 2018 to more than 1.2 TWh in 2030. To achieve these growth rates and displace internal combustion engine vehicles in the mass market, Li-battery costs must fall (<$100/kWh), and performance must improve to alleviate customer concerns over driving range and lifetime. Today’s commercial, state-of-the-art Li-ion batteries for EVs are based on high-energy-density layered oxides such as LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 (NCA) or LiNi1/3Mn1/3Co1/3O2 (NMC), and require cobalt, a metal of limited resources and subject to price speculation. New chemistries that are less reliant on critical materials are necessary to secure the supply chain and sustain rapid electrification of the U.S. transportation sector. There is, therefore, an urgent need for new high-performance cathode materials that use low cost, abundant raw materials. Many next-generation cathode materials, including nickel (Ni)-rich LiNi1-xMn0.5xCo0.5xO2 (NMC with x ≤ 0.2) layered oxide cathode that has attracted great interest due to its high specific energy, suffer from detrimental electrolyte reactions at high operating voltages from the catalytic activity of nickel at high state-of-charge (SOC). This results in poor cycle life that limits their commercial adoption. In this SBIR/STTR Phase I effort, Nexceris, LLC and The Ohio State University (OSU) propose to demonstrate a novel lithium-ion battery stabilization technology that will improve the cycle life of new cathode chemistries and accelerate their commercial adoption. The technology includes multiple approaches to tailoring the cathode/solid electrolyte interface at either the particle or layer level to improve the stability and Li-ion transport on the cathode surface.