Surface cleaning effect of NCM powder and improvement of lithium ion battery on the thermal stability and life cycle employing dielectric barrier discharge technique

Abstract

Mixed NCM (nikel, cobalt, and manganese) powder was treated by a reactive gas from dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) to prepare a cathode material in Lithium ion (Li-ion) battery. The DBD was mainly sustained using N2 gas at atmospheric pressure, and NF3, SF6, and H2 was fed into the discharge to create the reactive gas. Compare to the non-treated sample, impurities on the surface of the NCM powder were significantly removed in a 5 min when the reactive gas was blow into the powder and mixed properly. F atom content on the surface was increased depending on the time duration of mixing, which form a LiF layer on the surface. Desirable LiF layer suppress a heat flow effectively , resulting a decreasing of exothermic temperature inside the Li-ion battery. Additionally, the treatment of NCM powder employing DBD technique was also contributed to electrochemical performance, which was confirmed by c-rate testing.