Study of effects on LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 cathode by LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 coating for lithium ion batteries

•LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 was firstly used as a coating layer for Li[Ni0.8Co0.15Al0.05]O2.•The coating layer is composed of small particle with the size of 10–50 nm that grows into flocculent shape.•The thickness of the layer is about 300 nm.•Samples displaying good rate capability and cyclic stability.

Electrochemically active material, LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2, was chosen to coat LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 particle by a co-precipitation method with a weight ratio of 3:97. The thickness of coating layer is about 300 nm observed clearly by cross-section SEM photos. The coated material showed better electrochemical performance than that of the un-coated sample. At room temperature, the initial discharge capacity of the coated material was 188.2 mA h g−1 at 0.2C between 2.8 and 4.3 V and retained 96.2% after 100 cycles. Moreover, the discharge capacities of the coated cathode material at 50 °C could retain 163.2 mA h g−1 after 100 cycles. The composite also had a good rate performance with a capacity of about 146.3 mA h g−1 at 2C rate. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements showed that the coated material had a lower charge-transfer resistance.