(Invited) Enhancing the Performance of Lithium-Ion Cathodes

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Significant attention has recently been given to increasing the energy density of commercial LiNi1-x-yMnxCoyO2 (NMC) lithium-ion cathodes with an added constraint of greatly mitigating the use of cobalt. These two goals can be achieved in a seemingly straightforward manner by simply increasing Ni contents, and several Ni-rich compositions have found commercial success. Nonetheless, the increasing demand for lithium-ion batteries has brought about the realization that a more diverse portfolio, with respect to cathode materials, will be critical to ensure supply chain security, lower costs, and wide-spread adoption of energy storage technologies. More specifically, substantially increasing the use of earth-abundant materials is now viewed as a necessary path forward to ensure sustainability. Earth-abundant elements are attractive options in terms of sustainable technological development as they have the potential for positive impact with respect to increasing the availability of raw materials, ultimately lowering costs, and increasing accessibility of dependent technologies such as electric vehicles. Regardless of the class of cathode under consideration for a given application, a common theme among all lithium-ion cathode materials is their need for modification in order to meet the stringent demands of application. Of note, all cathode materials generally require surface stabilization to help enable acceptable performance in terms of metrics such as cycle-life and impedance. This is particularly true in the drive to develop solid-state batteries. In addition, small compositional changes in the way of bulk and surface dopants can also have a major impact on long-term performance. This presentation will discuss work ongoing at Argonne National Laboratory related to the modification of lithium-ion cathodes. Commercially relevant materials, as well as novel materials currently in development at Argonne, will be explored. Atomic layer deposition will be highlighted as a unique tool to not only enable enhanced battery cell performance, but also as an opportunity to discover new materials in the rapidly expanding market of lithium batteries.