Recently, rapid fluctuations in cobalt prices have created a worsening supply chain constraint that has become a serious cause of concern amidst global battery manufacturers. To address this challenge, here we report a new class of cobalt-free, nickel-rich layered cathode material termed the NFA class with general formula LiNi_xFe_yAl_zO₂ (x + y + z = 1). Using co-precipitation reaction in a continuous stirred tank reactor, we synthesized NFA(OH)₂ precursors with the constituent Ni, Fe and Al elements successfully incorporated. The obtained LiNFAO₂ cathode was characterized using X-Ray diffraction, Mössbauer spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Electrochemical behavior was assessed using cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge/discharge, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and galvanostatic intermittent titration technique at various states of lithiation/delithiation. Electrochemical performance evaluations revealed that our cobalt-free material delivers high capacity of 190 mAh/g at 0.1C. Rate and cycling performance evaluations also indicated good rate capability and cycling stability with 88% capacity retention after 100 cycles at C/3. Using NFA cathodes, we also fabricated a 0.5Ah (C/3) cobalt-free Li-ion battery which demonstrated reasonable cycling stability with ~72% capacity retained after 200 cycles. Overall, our work demonstrates the immense potential of the cobalt-free NFA class cathodes as viable candidates towards development of next generation cost effective lithium ion batteries.

最近，钴价格的快速波动造成了日益严重的供应链约束，这已成为全球电池制造商关注的严重问题。为了解决这一挑战，我们在此报告了一种新的无钴，富镍层状阴极材料，称为NFA类，其通式为LiNi _x Fe _y Al _z O ₂（x + y + z = 1）。使用在连续搅拌釜反应器中的共沉淀反应，我们合成了NFA（OH）₂前体，并成功掺入了Ni，Fe和Al元素。获得的LiNFAO ₂使用X射线衍射，Mössbauer光谱和扫描电子显微镜对阴极进行表征。使用循环伏安法，恒电流充/放电，电化学阻抗谱和恒电流间歇滴定技术在各种锂化/脱锂状态下评估电化学行为。电化学性能评估表明，我们的无钴材料在0.1C时可提供190 mAh / g的高容量。速率和循环性能评估还显示出良好的速率能力和循环稳定性，在C / 3下100次循环后，容量保持率为88％。使用NFA阴极，我们还制造了0.5Ah（C / 3）的无钴锂离子电池，该电池表现出合理的循环稳定性，在200次循环后保留了约72％的容量。总体，