Li[Ni1/3Mn1/3Co1/3]02 cathodes of approximately the same loading of active material with different amounts of inactive materials were fabricated and calendared to different porosity. EV and HPPC tests revealed that Li[Ni1/3Mn1/3Co1/3]O2 cathode performance is a strong function of inactive material amount and porosity with respect to energy density, pulse power, and cycling capability. Li[Ni1/3Mn1/3Co1/3]02 laminates containing 2% PVdF and 1.6% acetylene black at 30% porosity exhibits the best overall electrochemical properties including energy density, pulse power, and cycleability. Combined with an MCMB anode, the full cell delivers an energy density of 520 Wh/L which well exceeds the 40-mile energy-density goal announced by FreedomCar of 207 Wh/L. The result illustrates that proper engineering of the cell, module, and pack design may meet the PHEV 40-mile goal. ©The Electrochemical Society.

A conductive polymer is developed for solving the long-standing volume change issue in lithium battery electrodes. A combination of synthesis, spectroscopy and simulation techniques tailors the electronic structure of the polymer to enable in situ lithium doping. Composite anodes based on this polymer and commercial Si particles exhibit 2100 mAh g -1 in Si after 650 cycles without any conductive additive. Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.