@article{32567, author = {Srinivasan Ramakrishnan and Byungchun Park and Jue Wu and Wanli Yang and Bryan D McCloskey}, title = {Extended Interfacial Stability through Simple Acid Rinsing in a Li-Rich Oxide Cathode Material}, abstract = {

Layered Li-rich Ni, Mn, Co (NMC) oxide cathodes in Li-ion batteries provide high specific capacities (\>250 mAh/g) via O-redox at high voltages. However, associated high-voltage interfacial degradation processes require strategies for effective electrode surface passivation. Here, we show that an acidic surface treatment of a Li-rich NMC layered oxide cathode material leads to a substantial suppression of CO2\ and O2\ evolution, \~{}90\% and \~{}100\% respectively, during the first charge up to 4.8 V vs Li+/0. CO2\ suppression is related to Li2CO3\ removal as well as effective surface passivation against electrolyte degradation. This treatment does not result in any loss of discharge capacity and provides superior long-term cycling and rate performance in comparison to as-received, untreated materials. We also quantify the extent of lattice oxygen participation in charge compensation ({\textquotedblleft}O-redox{\textquotedblright}) during Li+\ removal by a novel\ ex situ\ acid titration. Our results indicate that the peroxo-like species resulting from O-redox originate on the surface at least 300 mV earlier than the activation plateau region at around 4.5 V. X-ray photoelectron spectra and Mn L-edge X-ray absorption spectra of the cathode powders reveal a Li+\ deficiency and a partial reduction of Mn ions on the surface of the acid-treated material. More interestingly, although the irreversible oxygen evolution is greatly suppressed through the surface treatment, O K-edge resonant inelastic X-ray scattering shows that the lattice O-redox behavior is largely sustained. The acidic treatment, therefore, only optimizes the surface of the Li-rich material and almost eliminates the irreversible gas evolution, leading to improved cycling and rate performance. This work therefore presents a simple yet effective approach to passivate cathode surfaces against interfacial instabilities during high-voltage battery operation.

}, year = {2020}, booktitle = {Journal of the American Chemical Society}, journal = {Journal of the American Chemical Society}, series = {Journal of the American Chemical Society}, volume = {142}, pages = {8522 - 8531}, month = {04/2020}, issn = {0002-7863}, doi = {10.1021/jacs.0c02859}, language = {eng}, }