Effect of Amorphous LiPON Coating on Electrochemical Performance of LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2 (NMC811) in All Solid-State Batteries

High nickel layered oxide LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2 (NMC811) was coated with a nanometer layer coating of a lithium ion conducting solid electrolyte, lithium phosphorus oxynitride (LiPON) by using RF-magnetron sputtering. The cells with LiPON coated NMC811 exhibit much improved cycling performance compared to the cells with pristine NMC811 with 64.1% and 42.6% capacity retention respectively over 100 cycles in an all solid-state battery. The LiPON layer provides interfacial stability at high voltages, suppresses the growth of impedance with cycling and improves the rate capability. Thicker coatings show a negative impact on the performance owing to the increase in electronic resistance with increasing thickness of the LiPON layer. The dQ/dV analysis, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and the overpotential study during galvanostatic cycling were conducted to elucidate the improvement of the cycling stability and enhancement of Li+ transport through LiPON layers surrounding NMC811.