Forming uniform metal oxide nanocoatings is a well-known challenge in the construction of core-shell type nanomaterials. Herein, by using buffer solution as a specific reaction medium, we demonstrate the possibility to grow thin nanoshells of metal oxides, typically Al2 O3 , on different kinds of core materials, forming a uniform surface-coating layer with thicknesses achieving one nanometer precision. The application of this methodology for the surface modification of LiCoO2 shows that a thin nanoshell of Al2 O3 can be readily tuned on the surface for an optimized battery performance.
Keywords: Al2O3 coating; core-shell structure; layer thickness; lithium-ion batteries.
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