Structural elucidation of the degradation mechanism of nickel-rich layered cathodes during high-voltage cycling.

Phase transition occurring during cycling plays a fundamentally important role in the cycling performance of nickel-rich cathodes. Here, splitting of two O3 phases, rather than the often observed O1 phases in the conventional LiCoO2 electrode, was discovered in LiNi0.85Co0.10Mn0.05O2 at a high-voltage region (>4.6 V). Such degradation could be mitigated via Al doping.