Electrochemical and solid-state NMR studies on LiCoO 2 coated with Al 2O 3 derived from carboxylate-alumoxane

Abstract

The surface of LiCoO 2 cathodes was coated with various wt.% of Al 2O 3 derived from methoxyethoxy acetate-alumoxane (MEA-alumoxane) by a mechano-thermal coating procedure, followed by calcination at 723 K in air for 10 h. The structure and morphology of the surface modified LiCoO 2 samples have been characterized with XRD, SEM, EDS, TEM, BET, XPS/ESCA and solid-state 27Al magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR techniques. The Al 2O 3 coating forms a thin layer on the surface of the core material with an average thickness of 20 nm. The corresponding 27Al MAS NMR spectrum basically exhibited the same characteristics as the spectrum for pristine Al 2O 3 derived from MEA-alumoxane, indicating that the local environment of aluminum atoms was not significantly changed at coating levels below 1 wt.%. This provides direct evidence that Al 2O 3 was on the surface of the core materials. The LiCoO 2 coated with 1 wt.% Al 2O 3 sustained continuous cycle stability 13 times longer than pristine LiCoO 2. A comparison of the electrochemical impedance behavior of the pristine and coated materials revealed that the failure of pristine cathode performance is associated with an increase in the particle–particle resistance upon continuous cycling. Coating improved the cathode performance by suppressing the characteristic structural phase transitions (hexagonal to monoclinic to hexagonal) that occur in pristine LiCoO 2 during the charge–discharge processes.