Unlocking Four-electron Conversion in Tellurium Cathodes for Advanced Magnesium-based Dual-ion Batteries.

Magnesium (Mg) batteries hold promise as a large-scale energy storage solution, but their progress has been hindered by the lack of high-performance cathodes. Here, we address this challenge by unlocking the reversible four-electron Te0/Te4+ conversion in elemental Te, enabling the demonstration of superior Mg//Te dual-ion batteries. Specifically, the classic magnesium aluminum chloride complex (MACC) electrolyte is tailored by introducing Mg bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (Mg(TFSI)2), which initiates the Te0/Te4+ conversion with two distinct charge-storage steps. Te cathode undergoes Te/TeCl4 conversion involving Cl- as charge carriers, during which a tellurium subchloride phase is presented as an intermediate. Significantly, the Te cathode achieves a high specific capacity of 543 mAh gTe -1 and an outstanding energy density of 850 Wh kgTe -1, outperforming most of the previously reported cathodes. Our electrolyte analysis indicates that the addition of Mg(TFSI)2 reduces the overall ion-molecule interaction and mitigates the strength of ion-solvent aggregation within the MACC electrolyte, which implies the facilized Cl- dissociation from the electrolyte. Besides, Mg(TFSI)2 is verified as an essential buffer to mitigate the corrosion and passivation of Mg anodes caused by the consumption of the electrolyte MgCl2 in Mg//Te dual-ion cells. These findings provide crucial insights into the development of advanced Mg-based dual-ion batteries.

Ionic Liquids: A Simple Model to Predict Ion Conductivity Based on DFT Derived Physical Parameters.

A model able to a priori predict ion conductivities of ionic liquids (ILs) is a desired design tool. We here propose a set of simple conductivity models for ILs composed of small ions by only using data easily derived from standard DFT calculations as input; ion volume, ion mass, ion moment of inertia, and the ion-ion interaction strength. Hence these simple models are totally without any need for experimental parametrization. All model are made from fits of 22 ILs based on 12 different cations and 5 different anions, resulting in correlations vs. experiment of R 2≈0.95 and MAE of 25-36%. Given their (very) simple layout and how fast they can be applied (and re-used), the models allow for ample screening of new IL designs, while not aimed for perfect predictions per se.

"Ionic liquids-in-salt"--a promising electrolyte concept for high-temperature lithium batteries?

A novel electrolyte concept for lithium-ion batteries, termed "ionic liquid-in-salt", is introduced. Our feasibility study on (1 - x)EMIMTFSI:(x)LiTFSI, 0.66 ≤ x ≤ 0.97, showed that at elevated temperatures the various dual liquid and solid phase regions are characterized by a wide thermal stability window, high ionic conductivities and appreciable mechanical integrity. The highest conductivity values are obtained for the compositions x = 0.70 and x = 0.75 (σ ≈ 6 × 10(-3) S cm(-1)) and are related to the final melting of the materials. Overall, high conductivities are observed for 0.70 < x < 0.90 while low ones are found for x > 0.90. Raman and NMR spectroscopies reveal the presence of highly mobile Li-containing species, partly identified as [Li(TFSI)2](-), albeit rather unexpected for these high x values, which might explain the high ionic conductivities observed. To prove the general value of our concept in more detail, some first results on BMIMTFSI and PY13TFSI based systems are also presented.