Antimony doped tin oxide-coated LiNi0.5Co0.2Mn0.3O2 cathode materials with enhanced electrochemical performance for lithium-ion batteries

An antimony doped tin oxide (ATO) coating is formed to improve the structural stability, electrochemical performance and thermal stability of LiNi 0.5 Co 0.2 Mn 0.3 O 2 (NCM523) cathode materials . It was observed that the 0.5 wt.% ATO-coated NCM523 cathode exhibited a capacity retention of 80.0% after 50 cycles at 1 C between 2.5 and 4.5 V, while that of the pristine one was only 70.4%. The rate capability of the coated cathode was also better than that of the pristine NCM523 in a voltage range of 2.8–4.5 V at various C-rates. The capacity retention was about 11.5% higher than that of the pristine NCM523, when the current rate is set as 5 C. Results indicate that the ATO coating is a promising approach for improving the electrochemical performance of NCM523 cathode materials.