Towards High-Energy-Density Cathode Materials: A Structural Perspective

A worldwide effort is underway to develop advanced energy-related technologies that would reduce the global consumption of non-renewable fossil fuels and alleviate the negative impact of greenhouse gas emission. Among available energy storage technologies, the lithium-ion battery is the most promising and emerging technology for electrification of automobiles to reduce the fossil fuel consumption in the transportation sector. However, the deployment of long range plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and pure electric vehicles requires advanced energy storage technology with a substantially higher energy density and lower cost than state-of-the-art lithium-ion technologies. There is a major effort has been in progress to develop alternative lithium transition metal oxides with a higher degree of lithium utilization and specific energy density. Recently, two classes of cathode materials have emerged as the most promising candidates: nickel-rich oxides and lithium-manganese-rich nickel-manganese-cobalt oxides [LMR-NMC or xLi₂MnO₃·(1-x)LiTMO₂, where TM=Ni, Mn, CO]. In this talk, the challenges of both materials will be discussed from a structural perspective.