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Cobalt in lithium-ion batteries

2020; American Association for the Advancement of Science; Volume: 367; Issue: 6481 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1126/science.aba9168

1095-9203

Matthew Li, Jun Lü,

Advanced Battery Technologies Research

The use of cobalt in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) traces back to the well-known LiCoO2 (LCO) cathode, which offers high conductivity and stable structural stability throughout charge cycling. Compared to the other transition metals, cobalt is less abundant and more expensive and also presents political and ethical issues because of the way it is mined in Africa (1). Cheaper cathodes have been developed that substitute some of the cobalt with nickel and manganese, and LiNi0.80Co0.15Al0.05O2 (NCA) and LiNi1-x-y CoxMnyO2 (NMC, where x and y <1) are used in the majority of the LIBs in electric vehicles. Nonetheless, in NCA and NMC, cobalt enables high-rate performance and to some extent, enhances cycle stability. We outline research efforts that could further decrease or even eliminate cobalt content in LIBs to lower their cost while maintaining high performance.