{
  "abstract": "The widespread adoption of electric vehicles demands lithium-ion batteries capable of fast charging, yet achieving this without compromising cycle stability remains a critical challenge. While constant voltage (CV) charging is inherently capable of delivering a large amount of capacity within a short period of time, the extremely high peak-current generated at the onset of charging has limited its use beyond a supplementary role in conventional constant current-constant voltage (CCCV) protocols. In this work, we systematically investigate multistep CV charging protocols, in which intermediate voltage steps are introduced before the final 4.3 V CV step, and evaluate their effect on peak-current suppression and long-term electrochemical performance in two representative NCM layered cathodes, LiNi0.5Co0.2Mn0.3O2 (NCM523) and LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 (NCM811). By increasing the number of CV steps from one to four, the peak-current is progressively reduced and redistributed across lower-voltage regions, without any loss in overall charge or discharge capacity. This controlled reduction in peak-current leads to improved Coulombic efficiency (CE) and better retention of charging time over extended cycling. XPS depth profiling of cycled NCM811 electrodes directly confirms that the one-step CV protocol forms a thicker cathode-electrolyte interphase layer compared to the four-step protocol, providing evidence that peak-current suppression mitigates parasitic surface reactions. Furthermore, the performance gap between the one-step and four-step protocols is more pronounced in NCM811 than in NCM523, reflecting the greater vulnerability of high-nickel cathodes to high-current-induced surface degradation. These findings establish the number of CV steps as a simple yet effective design parameter for balancing fast charging capability and interfacial stability in NCM cathodes.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Hanbat National University, Daejeon 34158, Republic of Korea",
    "Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Republic of Korea",
    "Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Hanbat National University, Daejeon 34158, Republic of Korea"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 8,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Prosper Aidoo"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Hyejin Choi"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Gyeongdo Park",
      "orcid": "0009-0003-1593-5191"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Sangyeob Lee"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Choong-Heui Chung"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Jehee Park"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Chunjoong Kim"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Kyojin Ku",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0783-1566"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/at0qwsdstwajv.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3390/batteries12110463",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "at0qwsdstwajv",
  "issns": [
    "2313-0105"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.mdpi.com/2313-0105/12/11/463",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-11-04",
  "publisher": "MDPI AG",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/at0qwsdstwajv.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-04T12:21:10Z",
      "native_id": "10.3390/batteries12110463",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.mdpi.com/2313-0105/12/11/463"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "chemistry",
      "origin": "issn:2313-0105",
      "subfield": "electrochemistry-energy"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Multistep Constant Voltage Charging for Peak-Current Control and Improved Fast Charging Stability in Layered Cathodes",
  "title_text": "Multistep Constant Voltage Charging for Peak-Current Control and Improved Fast Charging Stability in Layered Cathodes",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-06T00:21:11Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/at0qwsdstwajv",
  "venue": "Batteries",
  "versions": []
}