To optimize the electrochemical properties of Ni-rich cathode materials, CPAN@SC-NCM811 is prepared via surface modification of single-crystalline LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 cathode material by adding 1, 2 and 3 wt.% of polyacrylonitrile, respectively. Significantly, the results obtained from X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) verify the successful synthesis of CPAN@SC-NCM811 cathode, which exhibits better electrochemical properties compared to SC-NMC811. After thorough milling and calcination of 2 wt.% polyacrylonitrile with SC-NCM811, the initial discharge specific capacity of prepared S2 sample is 197.7 mAh g− 1 and the capacity retention reached 89.2% after 100 cycles at a rate of 1.0 C. Furthermore, the S2 sample exhibits superior rate performance compared to the other three samples, in which these superior electrochemical properties are largely attributed to the optimal ratio of conductive cyclized polyacrylonitrile coatings. Overall, this work offers guidelines for modifying the surface of SC-NCM811 cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries with exceptional cycling and rate performance.

Optimization of conductive cyclized polyacrylonitrile content to enhance the structural stability of single-crystal LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries
    Abstract
        Graphical abstract
    1 Introduction
    2 Experimental section
    3 Results and discussion
    4 Conclusions
    Acknowledgements 
    References

• Minyue Wen(College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Yangtze University, Jingzhou 434023, PR China)
• Jiawen Wang(College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Yangtze University, Jingzhou 434023, PR China)
• Jiafu Yu(College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Yangtze University, Jingzhou 434023, PR China)
• Shuaihao Li(College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Yangtze University, Jingzhou 434023, PR China)
• Qiuyu Zeng(School of Materials Science and Engineering, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan 232000, China) Corresponding author
• Sheng Wang(School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, Anhui, China)