Methods involving use of nitrogen-containing plasma to treat liquid electrolyte lithium-ion cathode materials

A method of fabricating a Lithium-ion cell, the method comprising:

• coating a cathode powder on a metal foil to produce a cathode-coated metal foil;
• wherein the cathode powder comprises one or more cathode active materials;
• wherein the cathode powder contains Lithium, Nickel, and Oxygen and the one or more cathode active materials have a chemical formula of Li(NixMnyCozAlw)O2, wherein 0.6≤x≤0.95, 0.02≤y≤0.2, 0≤z≤0.2, 0≤w≤0.1, and the Lithium is not lithium excess;
• drying, by one or more dryer chambers, the cathode-coated metal foil, wherein each of the one or more dryer chambers is configured with a header, a solvent exhaust collection and a recovery system;
• exposing, by at least one plasma chamber, the cathode-coated metal foil with treating material comprising nitrogen containing plasma having a nitrogen-containing reactive gas that reacts with the one or more cathode active materials to incorporate Nitrogen into the Lithium-ion cell's cathode, wherein the plasma is a near-atmospheric pressure plasma source ranging from about 0.5 to about 1.5 atmospheres pressure;
• calendering or rolling the cathode-coated metal foil treated to incorporate the Nitrogen;
• and
• placing the cathode-coated foil, treated to incorporate the Nitrogen, in a receptacle with a liquid electrolyte, to yield the Lithium-ion cell.