Simultaneous MgO Coating and Mg Doping of Co-Free Cathode Material for High-Voltage Sodium-Ion Batteries

Abstract

Over the past two decades, advancements in Li-ion battery (LIB) technologies have contributed immensely to changing our daily lives. Recently, another type of energy storage system, sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), have received significant attention mainly because of the abundance of sodium resources in the Earth's crust, which could thereby greatly reduce costs. Encouraged by previously conducted research activities in this field, we have adopted an effective strategy for simultaneous MgO coating and Mg doping to produce substantially improved high voltage stability compared to the previously reported results in the literature on Na[Ni0.5Mn0.5]O2 cathodes. The MgO coating layer effectively suppressed the unfavorable side reactions during cycling while the partial Mg doping into the bulk Ni sites improved the structural stability by moderating the extent of the irreversible multiphase transformation. As a result, the combination of a MgO coating with Mg doping provides enhanced electrochemical performance and structural stability of Na[Ni0.5Mn0.5]O2 within the voltage range of 2.0–4.2 V. The practical acceptability of the simultaneous MgO coating and Mg doping of the Na[Ni0.5Mn0.5]O2 cathode was obviously verified using scaled-up pouch-type full cells with hard carbon anodes. Moreover, the use of earth's abundant and inexpensive Mg and Na elements, and a simple practical strategy are highly desirable for developing high-energy and low-cost SIBs. Although the practical use of the MgO-NM55 cathode in SIBs will require further work, the methodology used in this study will be helpful in developing an efficient design of high performance cathode materials for SIBs.