Antimony doped tin oxide-coated LiNi0.5Co0.2Mn0.3O2 cathode materials with enhanced electrochemical performance for lithium-ion batteries

Highlights: • Antimony doped tin oxide-coated LiNi_0.5Co_0.2Mn_0.3O₂ microspheres were prepared via a two-step method. • Antimony doped tin oxide-coated LiNi_0.5Co_0.2Mn_0.3O₂ has excellent structural stability. • A 0.5 wt.% antimony doped tin oxide coating layer improved cycling performance and thermal stability. An antimony doped tin oxide (ATO) coating is formed to improve the structural stability, electrochemical performance and thermal stability of LiNi_0.5Co_0.2Mn_0.3O₂ (NCM523) cathode materials. It was observed that the 0.5 wt.% ATO-coated NCM523 cathode exhibited a capacity retention of 80.0% after 50 cycles at 1 C between 2.5 and 4.5 V, while that of the pristine one was only 70.4%. The rate capability of the coated cathode was also better than that of the pristine NCM523 in a voltage range of 2.8–4.5 V at various C-rates. The capacity retention was about 11.5% higher than that of the pristine NCM523, when the current rate is set as 5 C. Results indicate that the ATO coating is a promising approach for improving the electrochemical performance of NCM523 cathode materials.