Highly reversible transition metal migration in superstructure-free Li-rich oxide boosting voltage stability and redox symmetry

Abstract The further practical applications of Li-rich layered oxides are impeded by voltage decay and redox asymmetry, which are closely related to the structural degradation involving irreversible transition metal migration. It has been demonstrated that the superstructure ordering in O2-type materials can effectively suppress voltage decay and redox asymmetry. Herein, we elucidate that the absence of this superstructure ordering arrangement in a Ru-based O2-type oxide can still facilitate the highly reversible transition metal migration. We certify that Ru in superstructure-free O2-type structure can unlock a quite different migration path from Mn in mostly studied cases. The highly reversible migration of Ru helps the cathode maintain the structural robustness, thus realizing terrific capacity retention with neglectable voltage decay and inhibited oxygen redox asymmetry. We untie the knot that the absence of superstructure ordering fails to enable a high-performance Li-rich layered oxide cathode material with suppressed voltage decay and redox asymmetry.