Fig. 4

Electrochemical analysis of LNCM1416. a The first five continuous CV scans of LNCM1416 cathode at the scan rate of 0.1 mVs⁻¹ in the potential range of 2.2–4.5 V displays the irreversible behavior in the first cycle that is caused due to the oxidation reaction of O²⁻/O¹⁻ initiated at 4.4 V which disappears in the later cycles. b The dQ/dV plots of first 100 cycles run with the coin cell at 0.1 C rate portrays the gradual appearance of voltage fade at lower voltage which possibly instigated from the lack of activation steps involving the removal of the side products. c The dQ/dV plots of pouch cell of 60 mAh run at 0.2 C rate for 400 cycles in the potential range of 2.2–4.5 V, shown with the 100 cycles/increment, clearly demonstrates that with proper activation stop, the voltage fade at lower voltage can be effectively suppressed. A noticeable voltage separation of transition metals redox couples around 3.0/3.5 V (pink area), however, can be observed, which is highly correlated to the capacity fade mechanism resulting from the metal ions dissolution, dynamic structure formation, and redeposition on the anode surface