A Quasi‐Multinary Composite Coating on a Nickel‐Rich NCM Cathode Material for All‐Solid‐State Batteries

Inorganic solid-state batteries are attracting significant interest as a contender to conventional liquid electrolyte-based lithium-ion batteries but still suffer from several limitations. The search for advanced coatings for protecting cathode materials in solid-state batteries to achieve interfacial stability is a continuing challenge. In the present work, the surface of an industrially relevant Ni-rich LiNi$_x$Co$_y$Mn$_z$O$_2$ cathode material, NCM-851005 (85 % Ni), was modified by applying a coating containing Li, Nb and Zn, aiming at a composition Li$_6$ZnNb$_4$O$_14$, by means of sol-gel chemistry. Detailed characterization using scanning transmission electron microscopy combined with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and nano-beam electron diffraction showed that the surface layer after heating in O$_2$ at 500 °C contains Li$_3$NbO$_4$ nanocrystals and Li$_2$CO$_3$, with Zn presumably acting as a dopant. The protective coating on the NCM-851005 secondary particles significantly increased the cycling performance (reversible capacity, rate capability etc.) and stability of full cells using argyrodite Li$_6$PS$_5$Cl as solid electrolyte. Interestingly, the level of improvement is superior to that achieved with conventional LiNbO$_3$ coatings

Phase segregation in supramolecular polymers based on telechelics synthesized via multicomponent reactions

The properties of supramolecular polymers in the solid state are strongly dependent on the binding strength of the supramolecular motifs used; however, It has been previously shown that the nanostructure of supramolecular polymers plays an equally important role. Supramolecular polymers are commonly synthesized via end-group functionalization of low-glass transition telechelics with supramolecular units. In these systems, the binding motifs segregate from the soft telechelic backbone and form a hydrogen bonded crystalline hard phase that provides physical cross-links. To date, the reported synthetic approaches do not permit the introduction of a wide variety of supramolecular units with low synthetic effort, which would facilitate studying the structure-property relationships. The use of the Passerini and Ugi multicomponent reactions to synthesize various poly(ethylene-co-butylene) telechelics with diverse amide end-groups is reported. The thermal properties of the supramolecular polymers obtained through their solid-state assembly are investigated and their nanophase- segregation is studied, which is dictated by the end-group volume fraction and the amide–amide hydrogen bonding