The successful implementation of an aqueous-based electrode manufacturing process for nickel-rich cathode active materials is challenging due to their high water sensitivity. In this work, the surface of LiNi 0.8 Co 0.15 Al 0.05 O 2 (NCA) was modified with a lithium phosphate coating to investigate its ability to protect the active material during electrode production. The results illustrate that the coating amount is crucial and a compromise has to be made between protection during electrode processing and sufficient electronic conductivity through the particle surface. Cells with water-based electrodes containing NCA with an optimized amount of lithium phosphate had a slightly lower specific discharge capacity than cells with conventional Nmethyl-2-pyrrolidone-based electrodes. Nonetheless, the cells with optimized water-based electrodes could compete in terms of cycle life. the active material by applying surface coatings seems to be very promising. [6-11,16] LiNiCoAlO 2 (NCA) has attracted significant attention as a cathode active material because of its high energy density. [17] However, NCA is known to be extremely sensitive to moisture, [15,18-20] making it a difficult candidate for the aqueous electrode processing. According to the results in the literature, it is assumed that aqueous processing of NCA will not be successful without additional surface modifications, prior to electrode fabrication [10,11] or in situ surface modification during processing [8,9] or in a combination of both. [21] The strong PÀ O-bonding energy in the PO 4 3À ion gives metal phosphates high structural stability against chemical attack. [22-24] Various phosphate coatings such as Ni 3 (PO 4) 2 , [25] FePO 4 , [26] LiMnPO 4 , [27] MgHPO 4 , [28] BiPO 4 , [29] Li 1.3 Al 0.3 Ti 1.7 (PO 4) 3 , [30] Li 3 PO 4 , [23,31] Co 3 (PO 4) 2 , [32,33] LiFePO 4 , [34] and AlPO 4 [31,33,35] have been studied on NCA and resulted in improved electrochemical performance. However, to the best of the authors' knowledge, a phosphatecoated NCA has never been used in a combination with a waterbased electrode manufacturing process. Amongst the phosphate coatings mentioned above, Li 3 PO 4 is relatively easy to synthesize and, in contrast to other metal phosphates such as Ni 3 (PO 4) 2 , Co 3 (PO 4) 2 , BiPO 4 , FePO 4 , MgHPO 4 , and AlPO 4, a lithium-ion conductor. [36,37] The latter aspect might comparatively facilitate the migration of lithium ions through the particles surface. Therefore, in this study, the surface of LiNi 0.8 Co 0.15 Al 0.05 O 2 particles was modified by applying Li 3 PO 4 coatings via a simple precipitation reaction. The modified particles are compared with pristine NCA in terms of their processability in water and their electrochemical performance in cells. Finally, the cycle stability of cells with electrodes prepared via an aqueous and the conventional NMP route as reference is investigated.