Nd Doping Inhibits Lattice Oxygen Loss to Enhance High‐Voltage Durability of Ni‐Rich Cathodes
Ao Jiang, Honggui Xie, Qiaolu Lin, Zhe Xiao, Fei Wang, Xingming Zhang, Wenwei Zhang, Wei He, Zhengfang Qian, Xiangyu Dai, Renheng Wang
Abstract
Abstract Ni‐rich layered oxides (Ni > 90%) are promising next‐generation lithium‐ion battery cathodes, offering high specific capacity and low cost. However, their structural instability and oxygen evolution at high voltages limit practical application. Here, Nd‐doped LiNi₀.₉₀Co 0.05 ;Mn 0.05 O 2 (NCM9055‐Nd) is successfully synthesized via a facile sintering method. Combined sXAS, in situ XRD, TOF‐SIMS, in situ DEMS, and DFT analyses reveal that Nd 3 ⁺ doping effectively suppresses unit cell volume change and inhibits oxygen vacancy formation, even at a high cut‐off voltage of 4.6 V. Consequently, the NCM9055‐Nd cathode exhibits significantly enhanced cycling stability, retaining 65.6% capacity after 300 cycles at 2 C–a substantial improvement over the undoped material (46%). Moreover, it delivers an impressive high‐rate discharge capacity of 133.7 mAh g −1 at 5 C. This work demonstrates Nd doping as an effective strategy for developing high‐performance, structurally stable Ni‐rich, Co‐low cathodes for advanced lithium‐ion batteries.