Beneficial effect of propane sultone and tris(trimethylsilyl) borate as electrolyte additives on the cycling stability of the lithium rich nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) oxide

This study reports the investigation of several compounds as electrolyte additives for Li[Li0.2Mn0.56 Ni0.16 Co0.08]O2 (a.k.a lithium rich NMC) cathode material. Among the compounds investigated via electrochemical and ex-situ analytical techniques, i.e. XRD, XPS and RAMAN spectroscopy, only 1,3-propane sultone and tris(trimethylsilyl) borate show a beneficial effect on the capacity retention and coulombic efficiency of the layered cathode. The results suggest that the improved capacity retention of the cells containing the two above-mentioned additives mainly originates from their participation in the formation of the cathode passive layer, which prevents the dissolution of the metals from the cathode material. Additionally, the borate additive reduces the lithium consumption upon the passive layer formation thus leaving a higher amount of lithium available in the electrolyte. Graphite/Li[Li0.2Mn0.56 Ni0.16 Co0.08]O2 cells containing the borate additive in the electrolyte showed 85% capacity retention after 485 cycles, confirming the feasibility of its employment for practical applications.