A key strategy to enhance the energy density and improve the sustainability of cathode active materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is to develop more cost-effective, cobalt-free, higher-energy-density alternatives. The LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 (LNMO) spinel phase is a promising cathode active material for LIBs as it is Co-free chemistry and exhibits a high specific energy density of 650 Wh/kg, which is attributed to its high operating voltage of approximately 4.7 V vs. Li+/Li. LNMO exists in two phases depending on the ordering of transition metals (TM) in the crystal lattice. In the disordered phase, Ni and Mn ions are randomly distributed on the 16d sites of the Fd3̅m cubic unit cell, whereas in the ordered phase, the Ni and Mn atoms occupy the 4b and 12d sites of the P4332 cubic cell, respectively. In this work, a commercially available, disordered LNMO sample was used as the starting point of the investigations. To initiate the ordering of the Ni and Mn ions, the disordered LNMO was subjected to heat-treatment at 650°C in air. The impact of transition metal (TM) ordering on fundamental parameters such as the unit cell size, electrode expansion, and Li-ion diffusion coefficients at different states of charge were explored using in-operando x-ray diffraction (XRD), in-situ dilatometry, galvanostatic intermittent titration technique (GITT), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements. The electrodes for these studies were prepared using both PVDF and water-based binders in order to gain key insights into the effect of aqueous electrode processing on the Li+-ion transport parameters, interface resistances, and electrode expansion during cycling.Furthermore, a thermodynamic dataset containing the Gibbs free energy description of the LNMO phase was used to calculate the open circuit voltages and lattice parameters of crystalline LNMO as a function of state of charge and Ni and Mn contents in LNMO. The results of the calculations were compared to those from our experimental investigations to assess the predictive quality of the thermodynamic simulations. Our results show a good agreement between the calculated and quasi-equilibrium open circuit voltages measured by GITT and during cycling. In addition, the experimentally determined volume change of the crystal lattice during intercalation and de-intercalation of Li, as measured by in-operando XRD, was well reproduced by the thermodynamic simulation. Therefore, the second aspect of this work, focused on the thermodynamics of LNMO, shows that Gibbs free energy descriptions of cathode active materials can be used to model and assess their electrochemical performance and structural behaviour during cycling.
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