Boosting Cathodic Performance of Ni-rich NCM811 via Uric Acid Derived Nitrogen-doped Carbon-Coating in Lithium-Ion Batteries

The nickel-rich layered Li[Ni0.8Co0.1Mn0.1]O2, popularly known as NCM811, is considered a high-performance cathode material in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to its high specific capacity and energy density. However, because of its poor structural stability, it suffers from long-run performance in LIBs. The surface coating technique can enhance the performance of the NCM811 cathode by preventing its surface degradation during prolonged contact with electrolytes. Herein, we report a uric acid-derived nitrogen-doped carbon-coated NCM811 cathode to enhance the cathodic performance. The materials were prepared by a facile one-step calcination in which different weights of uric acid are mixed well with NCM811 through ball milling followed by sintering. The XRD peaks confirm the formation of a pure phase in both the bare and modified NCM811 materials. The morphological characteristics and coating thickness are observed by FE-SEM and FE-TEM analysis, respectively. Electrochemical characterizations such as galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD), cyclic performance, and rate capability studies show that the 0.1-NCM811 material can effectively tailor the electrochemical performance of the cathode in LIBs. The capacity retention of 0.1-NCM811 material is 92.7% and 85.8% at 100 cycles in 0.1C and 300 cycles in 1C, respectively. The improved electrochemical performance of coated NCM811 cathode is associated with the effective coating of nitrogen-doped carbon which can hinder the electrode dissolution process while amplifying the ionic conductivity.