Cerium-doped lithium-rich Li 1.2 Mn 0.56 Ni 0.11 Co 0.13 O 2 as cathode with high performance for lithium-ion batteries

Li-rich layered oxide is considered as one of the most prospective cathode materials for the future high-energy density Li-ion batteries (LIBs). However, the severe voltage and capacity degradation hinders its commercialization. To address the issues, Ce-doped Li-rich Li 1.2 Mn 0.56 Ni 0.11 Co 0.13 O 2 (LMNCO) layered cathode was prepared here via a sol–gel method. The Ce-doped (1 wt.%) Li-rich LMNCO cathode exhibits a layered structure with slight of Li + /Ni 2+ mixture. The first-cycle specific discharge capacity at a high rate of 5.0 C reaches up to 151.4 mAh·g −1 , and still retains 126.6 mAh·g −1 after 200 cycles with a retention rate of 83.6%. It is higher than that of the undoped LMNCO and the Ce-doped (3 wt.%) Li-rich cathodes. The doping of Ce effectively stabilizes the lattice structure of the LMNCO, increases the crystal plane spacing, and generates a unique layered-spinel phase with three-dimensional Li diffusion channel structure and enhanced Li-ion diffusion rate. This provides an efficient approach to improve the performance of the Li-rich layered structure cathode in LIBs.