Facile preparation of praseodymium oxide coated peanut-like lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide microspheres for lithium ion batteries with high voltage capabilities

Abstract

Praseodymium oxide (Pr6O11) coated peanut-like lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide (LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2) microspheres has been prepared by a simple dip-dry method. The structure and morphology of the as-prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy. The results show that the composites can be indexed as hexagonal layered structure with peanut-like morphology, and the LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 were successfully coated with Pr6O11 particles. The samples exhibit superior high voltage capabilities, the discharge capacity of the coated sample (Pr6O11 content is 1 wt%) is 139.9 mA h g−1 at 1 C between 2.5 and 4.5 V after 100 cycles. However, the discharge capacity still maintains 96.7 mA h g−1 at 10 C within the voltage range of 2.5–4.6 V over 50 cycles. The improved high voltage capabilities could be ascribed to the positive impact of Pr6O11, which can increase the electronic conductivity between microspheres, the lithium-ion diffusion coefficient, in conjunction with inhibit the undesirable side reaction between electrode and electrolyte.