Effect of fluorination and Li-excess on the Li migration barrier in Mn-based cathode materials

Abstract

Disordered rocksalt (DRX) Li-rich transition metal (TM) oxides, especially those based on Mn, are prospective high-energy-density cathode materials for the next generation of Li-ion batteries that use earth abundant metals. Fluorine substitution on the oxygen sublattice has been shown to reduce oxygen redox by lowering the average anion valence and increasing the amount of redox-active TM, and simultaneously improve energy density, average voltage and capacity retention. While these benefits of fluorination are well established, it is not well understood how F affects Li transport and therefore the rate performance of Mn-based DRX cathodes. Herein, we investigate the effects of both F substitution and the accompanying Li-excess on Li migration barriers using first-principles calculations. We demonstrate that F has a small negative effect on Li migration barriers while Li-excess decreases Li migration barriers. Because fluorination enables more Li-excess, these results do not predict any detrimental impact on Li transport.