Design of Nickel-Based Cation-Disordered Rock-Salt Oxides: The Effect of Transition Metal (M = V, Ti, Zr) Substitution in LiNi_0.5M_0.5O₂Binary Systems

Cation-disordered oxides have been ignored as positive electrode material for a long time due to structurally limited lithium insertion/extraction capabilities. In this work, a case study is carried out on nickel-based cation-disordered Fm3̅m LiNi0.5M0.5O2 positive electrode materials. The present investigation targets tailoring the electrochemical properties for nickel-based cation-disordered rock-salt by electronic considerations. The compositional space for binary LiM+3O2 with metals active for +3/+4 redox couples is extended to ternary oxides with LiA0.5B0.5O2 with A = Ni2+ and B = Ti4+, Zr4+, and V+4 to assess the impact of the different transition metals in the isostructural oxides. The direct synthesis of various new unknown ternary nickel-based Fm3̅m cation-disordered rock-salt positive electrode materials is presented with a particular focus on the LiNi0.5V0.5O2 system. This positive electrode material for Li-ion batteries displays an average voltage of ∼2.55 V and a high discharge capacity of 264 mAhg–1 corresponding to 0.94 Li. For appropriate cutoff voltages, a long cycle life is achieved. The charge compensation mechanism is probed by XANES, confirming the reversible oxidation and reduction of V4+/V5+. The enhancement in the electrochemical performances within the presented compounds stresses the importance of mixed cation-disordered transition metal oxides with different electronic configuration.