Electrical engineering

Physics

Aerospace engineering

Nanotechnology

Organic chemistry

Process engineering

Nickel oxide

Electrification

Nickel

Energy storage

Endocrinology

Engineering

Power (physics)

Raw material

Chemistry

Metallurgy

Materials science

Electricity

Lithium cobalt oxide

Lithium (medication)

Lithium-ion battery

Cobalt oxide

Oxide

Computer science

Cathode

Automotive industry

Battery (electricity)

Quantum mechanics

Cobalt

Medicine

Nature Energy

High-nickel layered oxide cathode materials will be at the forefront to enable longer driving-range electric vehicles at more affordable costs with lithium-based batteries. A continued push to higher energy content and less usage of costly raw materials, such as cobalt, while preserving acceptable power, lifetime and safety metrics, calls for a suite of strategic compositional, morphological and microstructural designs and efficient material production processes. In this Perspective, we discuss several important design considerations for high-nickel layered oxide cathodes that will be implemented in the automotive market for the coming decade. We outline various intrinsic restraints of maximizing their energy output and compare current/emerging development roadmaps approaching low-/zero-cobalt chemistry. Materials production is another focus, relevant to driving down costs and addressing the practical challenges of high-nickel layered oxides for demanding vehicle applications. We further assess a series of stabilization techniques on their prospects to fulfill the aggressive targets of vehicle electrification. The development of high-nickel layered oxide cathodes represents an opportunity to realize the full potential of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. Manthiram and colleagues review the materials design strategies and discuss the challenges and solutions for low-cobalt, high-energy-density cathodes.

High-nickel layered oxide cathodes for lithium-based automotive batteries