High-entropy doping promising ultrahigh-Ni Co-free single-crystalline cathode toward commercializable high-energy lithium-ion batteries | Science Advances

The development of advanced layered Ni-rich cathodes is essential for high-energy lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, the prevalent Ni-rich cathodes are still plagued by inherent issues of chemomechanical and thermal instabilities and limited cycle life. For this, here, we introduce an efficient approach combining single-crystalline (SC) design with in situ high-entropy (HE) doping to engineer an ultrahigh-Ni cobalt-free layered cathode of LiNi _0.88 Mn _0.03 Mg _0.02 Fe _0.02 Ti _0.02 Mo _0.02 Nb _0.01 O ₂ (denoted as HE-SC-N88). Thanks to the SC- and HE-doping merits, HE-SC-N88 is featured with a grain-boundary-free and stabilized structure with minimal lattice strain, preventing mechanical degradation, reducing surface parasitic reactions, and mitigating oxygen loss. Accordingly, our HE-SC-N88 cathode demonstrates exceptional electrochemical properties particularly with prolonged cycling stability under strenuous conditions in both half and full cells, and the delayed O loss–induced phase transitions upon heating. More meaningfully, our design of HE doping in redefining the ultrahigh-Ni Co-free SC cathodes will make a tremendous progress toward industrial application of next-generation LIBs.