Multistep Constant Voltage Charging for Peak-Current Control and Improved Fast Charging Stability in Layered Cathodes
- 1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Hanbat National University, Daejeon 34158, Republic of Korea
- 2Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Republic of Korea
- 3Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Hanbat National University, Daejeon 34158, Republic of Korea
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.
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BibTeX
@article{aidoo2026multistep,
title = {{Multistep Constant Voltage Charging for Peak-Current Control and Improved Fast Charging Stability in Layered Cathodes}},
author = {Prosper Aidoo and Hyejin Choi and Gyeongdo Park and Sangyeob Lee and Choong-Heui Chung and Jehee Park and Chunjoong Kim and Kyojin Ku},
journal = {Batteries},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.3390/batteries12110463},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2313-0105/12/11/463},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Multistep Constant Voltage Charging for Peak-Current Control and Improved Fast Charging Stability in Layered Cathodes
AU - Prosper Aidoo
AU - Hyejin Choi
AU - Gyeongdo Park
AU - Sangyeob Lee
AU - Choong-Heui Chung
AU - Jehee Park
AU - Chunjoong Kim
AU - Kyojin Ku
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/04
JO - Batteries
DO - 10.3390/batteries12110463
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2313-0105/12/11/463
AB - 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.
SN - 2313-0105
ER -