Lithium intercalation and structural changes at the LiCoO surface under high voltage battery operation

Taminato, So*; Hirayama, Masaaki*; Suzuki, Kota*; Tamura, Kazuhisa; Minato, Taketoshi*; Arai, Hajime*; Uchimoto, Yoshiharu*; Ogumi, Zempachi*; Kanno, Ryoji*

Journal of Power Sources, 307, p.599 - 603, 2016/03

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2015.12.133

An epitaxial-film model electrode of LiCoO(104) was fabricated on SrRuO(100)/Nb:SrTiO(100) using pulsed laser deposition. The 50 nm thick LiCoO(104) film exhibited lithium (de-)intercalation activity with a first discharge capacity of 119 mAh g between 3.0 and 4.4 V, followed by a gradual capacity fading with subsequent charge-discharge cycles. In contrast, a 3.2 nm thick LiPO-coated film exhibited a higher intercalation capacity of 148 mAh g with superior cycle retention than the uncoated film. In situ surface X-ray diffraction measurements revealed a small lattice change at the coated surface during the (de-)intercalation processes compared to the uncoated surface. The surface modification of LiCoO by the LiPO coating could lead to improvement of the structural stability at the surface region during lithium (de-)intercalation at high voltage.