Amorphous Zr(OH)_4 coated LiNi_(0.915)Co_(0.075)Al_(0.01)O_2 cathode material with enhanced electrochemical performance for lithium ion batteries

LiNi_(0.915)Co_(0.075)Al_(0.01)O_2(NCA) with Zr(OH)_4 coating is demonstrated as high performance cathode material for lithium ion batteries(LIBs). The coated materials are synthesized via a simple dry coating method of NCA with Zr(OH)_4 powders, and then characterized with scanning electron microscopy(SEM), transmission electron microscopy(TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS). Experimental results show that amorphous Zr(OH)_4 powders have been successfully coated on the surface of spherical NCA particles, exhibiting improved electrochemical performance. 0.50 wt% Zr(OH)_4 coated NCA delivers a capacity of 197.6 mAh/g at the first cycle and 154.3 mAh/g after 100 cycles with a capacity retention of 78.1% at 1 C rate. In comparison, the pure NCA shows a capacity of 194.6 mAh/g at the first cycle and 142.5 mAh/g after 100 cycles with a capacity retention of 73.2% at 1 C rate. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS) results show that the coated material exhibits a lower resistance, indicating that the coating layer can efficiently suppress transition metals dissolution and decrease the side reactions at the surface between the electrode and electrolyte. Therefore, surface coating with amorphous Zr(OH)_4 is a simple and useful method to enhance the electrochemical performance of NCA-based materials for the cathode of LIBs.