New Coating Extends Lithium-Ion Battery Life, Paving Way for Longer-Lasting EVs and Electronics
Among the biggest complaints inhibiting growth in the electric vehicle market is the limited lifespan and range of lithium-ion batteries. Consumers fear being stranded far from home with long wait times at recharging stations. A promising area of research has focused on layer-structured metal oxide cathodes, specifically lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC811), due to its low cost and high energy capacity.
The Challenge with NMC811 Cathodes
NMC811 cathodes suffer from cell performance degradation during cycling due to oxygen release when a battery is charged and discharged. This released oxygen can oxidize electrolytes, generating gases and byproducts that can lead to safety hazards, such as fires.
Nanoscale Coating Offers a Solution
New research published in Small reports a promising solution to increasing the lifespan of lithium-ion batteries. Researchers at the University of Arkansas applied nanoscale coatings of zirconium sulfide to prefabricated NMC811 cathodes using atomic layer deposition. This coating, just two billionths of a meter thick, captures released oxygen by transforming from a sulfide to a sulfate – ZrS2 to Zr(SO4)2.
How the Coating Works
This conversion effectively protects the battery electrolyte from decomposition. The resulting sulfate coating further inhibits undesirable reactions, stabilizes the interface between NMC811 and the electrolyte, suppresses microcracking and maintains the structural stability of the NMC811 cathode.
Significant Performance Improvements
The sulfate-coated NMC811 cathode demonstrates extraordinary performance. Without the coating, bare NMC811 cathodes typically survive for approximately 200 cycles. The new coating increased the cycling performance to more than 1,000 cycles. The coated cathode retained 60% of its charge after 1,300 cycles.
Research and Funding
The project is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. Xiangbo “Henry” Meng, an associate professor in mechanical engineering at the University of Arkansas, leads the research. Meng discovered that sulfides are a novel class of coatings that can convert into sulfates in-situ within battery cells, creating “robust, clean and antioxidative protective layers on battery cathodes.” He has verified this sulfide-sulfate conversion with various sulfides, including Li2S, ZrS2, Al2S3, ZnS, and Cu2S.
Future Applications and Collaboration
This function advances understanding of interface engineering and provides a new pathway for commercializing NMC811 cathodes. The technology could be applied to cathodes in cell phones and laptops to extend their lifetime and improve safety. Several large tech companies have expressed interest in the results and will collaborate with Argonne National Laboratory to test the coatings on different batteries.
Research Team
Kevin Velasquez, a Ph.D. Student in the Meng Nano & Energy Lab, was the first author on the paper and tested the cathode coatings using coin cells. Meng oversaw all research and is the corresponding author. Co-authors included Jiyu Cai, Taohedul Islam, Hua Zhou, Wenquan Lu, Fumiya Watanabe, and Yuzi Liu. Islam is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Arkansas, while Cai, Lu, Zhou, and Liu are affiliated with Argonne National Laboratory. Watanabe is affiliated with the University of Arkansas, Little Rock.
Intellectual Property
Meng currently has four patents issued, 15 patents pending, and six intellectual property disclosures, with five related to sulfide coatings.
Reference: Carballo KV, Cai J, Islam T, et al. An oxygen‐scavenger sulfide coating enabling long‐term stable nickel‐rich cathodes. Small. 2026;22(10):e09789. Doi: 10.1002/smll.202509789
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