Synthesis and electrochemical properties of Zn-doping LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 cathode material for lithium-ion battery application

The Zn-doped LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 samples were prepared by a simple sol–gel method combined with calcination at certain temperature. The crystal structure, morphology, and lithium storage performance of as-prepared materials were studied by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and galvanostatic charge/discharge tests. The Zn-doped samples kept same structure as that of LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 and took on morphology of nanoirregular cubes with length of 50–200 nm. The electrochemical performances for the Zn-doped LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 were improved obviously. Especially, the sample doped with 6% Zn (LNCM-0.06Zn) behaved with higher reversible capacity and better cycle performances (It maintained reversible capacity as 173 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles at 0.5 C and 118 mAh g−1 after 500 cycles, even at high rate of 8 C). So LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 doped with suitable amount of Zn is a promising cathode for lithium-ion battery application.