Jiao Liu’s research while affiliated with Changsha University of Science and Technology and other places

To improve the electrochemical performance of Nickel-rich cathode material LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2, an in situ coating technique with Li2ZrO3 is successfully applied through wet chemical method, and the thermoelectrochemical properties of the coated material at different ambient temperatures and charge-discharge rates are investigated by electrochemical-calorimetric method. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) tests demonstrate that the Li2ZrO3 coating decreases the electrode polarizatoin and reduces the charge transfer resistance of the material during cycling. Moreover, it is found that with the ambient temperatures and charge-discharge rates increase, the specific capacity decreases, the amount of heat increases, and the enthalpy change (ΔH) increases. The specific capacity of the cells at 30 °C are 203.8, 197.4, 184.0, and 174.5 mAh g−1 at 0.2, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 C, respectively. Under the same rate (2.0 C), the amounts of heat of the cells are 381.64, 645.32, and 710.34 mJ at 30, 40, and 50 °C. These results indicate that Li2ZrO3 coating plays an important role to enhance the electrochemical performance of LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 and reveal that choosing suitable temperature and current is critical for solving battery safety problem.

The LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 with LiAlO2 coating was obtained by hydrolysis–hydrothermal method. The morphology of the composite was characterized by SEM, TEM, and EDS. The results showed that the LiAlO2 layer was almost completely covered on the surface of particle, and the thickness of coating was about 8–12 nm. The LiAlO2 coating suppressed side reaction between composite and electrolyte; thus, the electrochemical performance of the LiAlO2-coated LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 was improved at 40 °C. The LiAlO2-coated sample delivered a high discharge capacity of 181.2 mAh g⁻¹ (1 C) with 93.5% capacity retention after 100 cycles at room temperature and 87.4% capacity retention after 100 cycles at 40 °C. LiAlO2-coated material exhibited an excellent cycling stability and thermal stability compared with the pristine material. These works will contribute to the battery structure optimization and design.

Thermal issues of lithium ion batteries are key factors affecting the safety, operational performance, life, and cost of the battery. An electrochemical–thermal coupling model based on thermoelectrochemical basic data was established to investigate the thermal behavior of LiFePO4 lithium ion battery. In this paper, the finite element method was used for simulation of temperature field distribution inside battery during charge–discharge process, and the influence of the charge–discharge rate and ambient temperature on the distribution of temperature field was summarized. The results showed that the highest temperature of battery was recorded at the junction of negative and separator during charge–discharge process. At a low discharge current, the modeling results agreed well with the experimental data. When the ambient temperature was 303.15 K, the maximum temperatures inside the battery were 304.60, 304.83, 306.55, and 309.96 K for 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, and 1.0 C charge–discharge rates, respectively. If the ambient temperature increased to 323.15 K, the maximum temperatures were increased by 24.96, 27.91, 33.18, and 32.59 K for 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, and 1.0 C charge–discharge rates, respectively, and the homogenous temperature field distribution inside the battery was worse.