Electrochemical modeling and simulation of the improved high-rate discharging performance of through-holed LiNi1/3Mn1/3Co1/3O2 cathodes prepared with a picosecond pulsed laser for lithium-ion batteries

•From the simulation with COMSOL, the reason for the improvement of high-rate performance of through-holed cathodes was discussed.•The structural parameters of the NMC layer in the through-holed cathodes was optimized.•It was considered that the enhancement of the Li+ ion transfer through the sidewall in the through-holes caused the improvement of high-rate performance.•The consideration of the structural parameter distribution around a through-hole lead to reasonable agreements between the experimental data and calculated values.