Modification of LiCo1/3Ni1/3Mn1/3O2 cathode material by CeO2-coating

LiCo_1/3Ni_1/3Mn_1/3O₂ was coated by a layer of 1.0 wt% CeO₂ via sol-gel method. The bared and coated LiMn_1/3Co_1/3Ni_1/3O₂ was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), cyclic voltammogram (CV) and galvanotactic charge-discharge test. The results show that the coating layer has no effect on the crystal structure, only coating on the surface; the 1.0 wt% CeO₂-coated LiCo_1/3Ni_1/3Mn_1/3O₂ exhibits better discharge capacity and cycling performance than the bared LiCo_1/3Ni_1/3Mn_1/3O₂. The discharge capacity of 1.0 wt% CeO₂-coated cathode is 182.5 mAh·g⁻¹ at a current density of 20 mA·g⁻¹, in contrast to 165.8 mAh·g⁻¹of the bared sample. The discharge capacity retention of 1.0 wt% CeO₂-coated sample after 12 cycles reaches 93.2%, in comparison with 86.6% of the bared sample. CV results show that the CeO₂ coating could suppress phase transitions and prevent the surface of cathode material from direct contact with the electrolyte, thus enhance the electrochemical performance of the coated material.