Controllable Solid Electrolyte Interphase in Nickel-Rich Cathodes by an Electrochemical Rearrangement for Stable Lithium-Ion Batteries

The layered nickel-rich materials have attracted extensive attention as a promising cathode candidate for high-energy density lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, they have been suffering from inherent structural and electrochemical degradation including severe capacity loss at high electrode loading density (>3.0 g cm(-3)) and high temperature cycling (>60 degrees C). In this study, an effective and viable way of creating an artificial solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer on the cathode surface by a simple, one-step approach is reported. It is found that the initial artificial SEI compounds on the cathode surface can electrochemically grow along grain boundaries by reacting with the by-products during battery cycling. The developed nickel-rich cathode demonstrates exceptional capacity retention and structural integrity under industrial electrode fabricating conditions with the electrode loading level of approximate to 12 mg cm(-2) and density of approximate to 3.3 g cm(-3). This finding could be a breakthrough for the LIB technology, providing a rational approach for the development of advanced cathode materials

MNC strategy and social adaptation in emerging markets

Emerging markets experience institutional and social changes over time that present different stakeholder expectations for multinational corporations (MNCs). MNCs are often accused of social misdeeds and experience public crises during the changes, leaving questions on how they adapt to the local social transition to sustain operations. Conventional adaptation strategies put too much emphasis on maximizing economic returns by arbitraging national differences and catering to local market and consumer characteristics. The economic orientation may fail to address evolving and diverse stakeholder expectations, easily leading to public crises. This study conceptualizes economic adaptation and social adaptation as two sets of knowledge and capabilities that would have equally important impacts on MNCs’ sustainable operations in emerging markets. The empirical testing examines consumer rights-related public crises experienced by 180 MNCs in China. The results suggest that MNCs’ social adaptation activities have significantly positive effects in mitigating public crises while certain aspects of economic adaption, such as early entry into China, reliance on local leadership, and speedy expansion of local employees, lead to public crises. The significant interaction effects confirm that MNCs need to follow a balanced approach, paying attention to both economic and social components to avoid public crises and sustain growth in emerging markets

Prospect and Reality of Ni-Rich Cathode for Commercialization

The layered nickel-rich cathode materials are considered as promising cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to their high reversible capacity and low cost. However, several significant challenges, such as the unstable powder properties and limited electrode density, hindered the practical application of the nickel-rich cathode materials with the nickel content over 80%. Herein, important stability issues and in-depth understanding of the nickel-rich cathode materials on the basis of the industrial electrode fabrication condition for the commercialization of the nickel-rich cathode materials are reviewed. A variety of factors threatening the battery safety such as the powder properties, thermal/structural stability are systemically investigated from a material point of view. Furthermore, recent efforts for enhancing the electrochemical stability of the nickel-rich cathode materials are summarized. More importantly, critical key parameters that should be considered for the high energy LIBs at an electrode level are intensively addressed for the first time. Current electrode fabrication condition has a difficulty in increasing the energy density of the battery. Finally, light is shed on the perspectives for the future research direction of the nickel-rich cathode materials with its technical challenges in current state by the practical aspect