ABSTRACT
Uncontrolled zinc electrodeposition is an obstacle to long-cycling zinc batteries. Much has been researched on regulating zinc electrodeposition, but rarely are the studies performed in the presence of a separator, as in practical cells. Here, we show that the microstructure of separators determines the electrodeposition behavior of zinc. Porous separators direct zinc to deposit into their pores and leave "dead zinc" upon stripping. In contrast, a nonporous separator prevents zinc penetration. Such a difference between the two types of separators is distinguished only if caution is taken to preserve the attachment of the separator to the zinc-deposited substrate during the entire electrodeposition-morphological observation process. Failure to adopt such a practice could lead to misinformed conclusions. Our work reveals the mere use of porous separators as a universal yet overlooked challenge for metal anode-based rechargeable batteries. Countermeasures to prevent direct exposure of the metal growth front to a porous structure are suggested.
Subject(s)
Electroplating , Zinc , Electric Power Supplies , Electrodes , Zinc/chemistryABSTRACT
Structural transformations near surfaces of solid-state materials underpin functional mechanisms of a broad range of applications including catalysis, memory, and energy storage. It has been a long-standing notion that the outermost free surfaces, accompanied by broken translational symmetry and altered atomic configurations, are usually the birthplace for structural transformations. Here, in a layered oxide cathode for Li-ion batteries, we for the first time observe the incipient state of the well-documented layered-to-spinel-like structural transformation, which is surprisingly initiated from the subsurface layer, rather than the very surface. Coupling atomic level scanning transmission electron microscopy imaging with electron energy loss spectroscopy, we discover that the reconstructed subsurfaces, featuring a mix of discrete patches of layered and spinel-like structures, are associated with selective atomic species partition and consequent nanoscale nonuniform composition gradient distribution at the subsurface. Our findings provide fundamental insights on atomic-scale mechanisms of structural transformation in layered cathodes.
ABSTRACT
We combined advanced TEM (HRTEM, HAADF, EELS) with solid-state (SS)MAS NMR and electroanalytical techniques (GITT, etc.) to understand the site-specific sodiation of selenium (Se) encapsulated in a nanoporous carbon host. The architecture employed is representative of a wide number of electrochemically stable and rate-capable Se-based sodium metal battery (SMB) cathodes. SSNMR demonstrates that during the first sodiation, the Se chains are progressively cut to form an amorphous mixture of polyselenides of varying lengths, with no evidence for discrete phase transitions during sodiation. It also shows that Se nearest the carbon pore surface is sodiated first, leading to the formation of a core-shell compositional profile. HRTEM indicates that the vast majority of the pore-confined Se is amorphous, with the only localized presence of nanocrystalline equilibrium Na2Se2 (hcp) and Na2Se (fcc). A nanoscale fracture of terminally sodiated Na-Se is observed by HAADF, with SSNMR, indicating a physical separation of some Se from the carbon host after the first cycle. GITT reveals a 3-fold increase in Na+ diffusivity at cycle 2, which may be explained by the creation of extra interfaces. These combined findings highlight the complex phenomenology of electrochemical phase transformations in nanoconfined materials, which may profoundly differ from their "free" counterparts.
ABSTRACT
A strategy for modifying the structure of solid-state electrolytes (SSEs) to reduce the cation diffusion activation energy is presented. Two heavily W-doped sodium thioantimonate SSEs, Na2.895 W0.3 Sb0.7 S4 and Na2.7 W0.3 Sb0.7 S4 are designed, both exhibiting exceptionally low activation energy and enhanced room temperature (RT) ionic conductivity; 0.09â eV, 24.2â mS/cm and 0.12â eV, 14.5â mS/cm. At -15 °C the Na2.895 W0.3 Sb0.7 S4 displays a total ionic conductivity of 5.5â mS/cm. The 30 % W content goes far beyond the 10-12 % reported in the prior studies, and results in novel pseudo-cubic or orthorhombic structures. Calculations reveal that these properties result from a combination of multiple diffusion mechanisms, including vacancy defects, strongly correlated modes and excessive Na-ions. An all-solid-state battery (ASSB) using Na2.895 W0.3 Sb0.7 S4 as the primary SSE and a sodium sulfide (Na2 S) cathode achieves a reversible capacity of 400â mAh g-1 .
ABSTRACT
Nanoporous TiNb2 O7 (NPTNO) material is synthesized by a sol-gel method with an ionic liquid (IL) as the nanoporous structure directing template. NPTNO exhibits a high reversible capacity of 210 mAh g-1 even at the charging rate of 50 C and an excellent cyclability of half-cell capacity retention of 74% for 1000 cycles at 5 C and LiNi0.5 Mn1.5 O4 -coupled full-cell capacity retentions of 81% and 87% for 1000 cycles at 1 C and 2 C, respectively. The studies of the 1000 cycled NPTNO electrode illustrate that the IL-directed mesoporous structure can enhance the cyclability of NPTNO cells due to the alleviation of repetitive mechanical stress and volume fluctuation induced by the repetitive Li+ insertion-extraction processes. The measured Li+ diffusion coefficients from the galvanostatic intermittent titration technique suggest that the IL-templating strategy indeed ensures the fast rechargeability of NPTNO cells based on the fast Li+ diffusion kinetics. Benefitting from the nanoporous structure, NPTNO with unhindered Li+ diffusion pathways achieves a superior rate capability in the titanium-based oxide materials and the best full-cell cyclability in the TNO materials. Therefore, the templating potential of IL is demonstrated, and the superb electrochemical performance establishes the IL-directed NPTNO as a promising anode candidate for fast-rechargeable LIBs.
ABSTRACT
Understanding the evolution of chemical composition and morphology of battery materials during electrochemical cycling is fundamental to extending battery cycle life and ensuring safety. This is particularly true for the much debated high energy density (high voltage) lithium-manganese rich cathode material of composition Li(1 + x)M(1 - x)O2 (M = Mn, Co, Ni). In this study we combine full-field transmission X-ray microscopy (TXM) with X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) to spatially resolve changes in chemical phase, oxidation state, and morphology within a high voltage cathode having nominal composition Li1.2Mn0.525Ni0.175Co0.1O2. Nanoscale microscopy with chemical/elemental sensitivity provides direct quantitative visualization of the cathode, and insights into failure. Single-pixel (â¼ 30 nm) TXM XANES revealed changes in Mn chemistry with cycling, possibly to a spinel conformation and likely including some Mn(II), starting at the particle surface and proceeding inward. Morphological analysis of the particles revealed, with high resolution and statistical sampling, that the majority of particles adopted nonspherical shapes after 200 cycles. Multiple-energy tomography showed a more homogeneous association of transition metals in the pristine particle, which segregate significantly with cycling. Depletion of transition metals at the cathode surface occurs after just one cycle, likely driven by electrochemical reactions at the surface.
Subject(s)
Electric Capacitance , Lithium/chemistry , Manganese/chemistry , Electrodes , X-Ray MicrotomographyABSTRACT
Nanocrystal quantum dots have favourable light-emitting properties. They show photoluminescence with high quantum yields, and their emission colours depend on the nanocrystal size--owing to the quantum-confinement effect--and are therefore tunable. However, nanocrystals are difficult to use in optical amplification and lasing. Because of an almost exact balance between absorption and stimulated emission in nanoparticles excited with single electron-hole pairs (excitons), optical gain can only occur in nanocrystals that contain at least two excitons. A complication associated with this multiexcitonic nature of light amplification is fast optical-gain decay induced by non-radiative Auger recombination, a process in which one exciton recombines by transferring its energy to another. Here we demonstrate a practical approach for obtaining optical gain in the single-exciton regime that eliminates the problem of Auger decay. Specifically, we develop core/shell hetero-nanocrystals engineered in such a way as to spatially separate electrons and holes between the core and the shell (type-II heterostructures). The resulting imbalance between negative and positive charges produces a strong local electric field, which induces a giant ( approximately 100 meV or greater) transient Stark shift of the absorption spectrum with respect to the luminescence line of singly excited nanocrystals. This effect breaks the exact balance between absorption and stimulated emission, and allows us to demonstrate optical amplification due to single excitons.
ABSTRACT
Cobalt-free cation-disordered rocksalt (DRX) cathodes are a promising class of materials for next-generation Li-ion batteries. Although they have high theoretical specific capacities (>300 mA h/g) and moderate operating voltages (â¼3.5 V vs Li/Li+), DRX cathodes typically require a high carbon content (up to 30 wt %) to fully utilize the active material which has a detrimental impact on cell-level energy density. To assess pathways to reduce the electrode's carbon content, the present study investigates how the carbon's microstructure and loading (10-20 wt %) influence the performance of DRX cathodes with the nominal composition Li1.2Mn0.5Ti0.3O1.9F0.1. While electrodes prepared with conventional disordered carbon additives (C65 and ketjenblack) exhibit rapid capacity fade due to an unstable cathode/electrolyte interface, DRX cathodes containing 10 wt % graphite show superior cycling performance (e.g., reversible capacities â¼260 mA h/g with 85% capacity retention after 50 cycles) and rate capability (â¼135 mA h/g at 1000 mA/g). A suite of characterization tools was employed to evaluate the performance differences among these composite electrodes. Overall, these results indicate that the superior performance of the graphite-based cathodes is largely attributed to the: (i) formation of a uniform graphitic coating on DRX particles which protects the surface from parasitic reactions at high states of charge and (ii) homogeneous dispersion of the active material and carbon throughout the composite cathode which provides a robust electronically conductive network that can withstand repeated charge-discharge cycles. Overall, this study provides key scientific insights on how the carbon microstructure and electrode processing influence the performance of DRX cathodes. Based on these results, exploration of alternative routes to apply graphitic coatings is recommended to further optimize the material performance.
ABSTRACT
Mn-based cation-disordered rocksalt oxides (Mn-DRX) are emerging as promising cathode materials for next-generation Li-ion batteries due to their high specific capacities and cobalt- and nickel-free characteristic. However, to reach the usable capacity, solid-state synthesized Mn-DRX materials require activation via postsynthetic ball milling, typically incorporating more than 20 wt % conductive carbon that adversely reduces the electrode-level gravimetric capacity. To address this issue, we first deposit amorphous carbon on the surface of the Li1.2Mn0.4Ti0.4O2 (LMTO) particles to increase the electrical conductivity by 5 orders of magnitude. Although the cathode material gravimetric first charge capacity reaches 180 mAh/g, its highly irreversible behavior leads to a first discharge capacity of 70 mAh/g. Subsequently, to ensure a good electrical percolation network, the LMTO material is ball-milled with a multiwall carbon nanotube (CNT) to obtain a 78.7 wt % LMTO active material loading in the cathode electrode (LMTO-CNT). As a result, a 210 mAh/g cathode electrode gravimetric first charge and 165 mAh/g first discharge capacity values are obtained, compared to the respective capacity values of 222 and 155 mAh/g for the LMTO material ball-milled with 20 wt % SuperP C65 electrode (LMTO-SP). After 50 cycles, LMTO-CNT delivers a 121 mAh/g electrode gravimetric discharge capacity, largely outperforming the value of 44 mAh/g of LMTO-SP. Our study demonstrates that while ball milling is necessary to achieve a significant amount of capacity of LMTO, a careful selection of additives, such as CNT, effectively reduces the required carbon quantity to achieve a higher electrode gravimetric discharge capacity.
ABSTRACT
A stable anode-free all-solid-state battery (AF-ASSB) with sulfide-based solid-electrolyte (SE) (argyrodite Li6 PS5 Cl) is achieved by tuning wetting of lithium metal on "empty" copper current-collector. Lithiophilic 1 µm Li2 Te is synthesized by exposing the collector to tellurium vapor, followed by in situ Li activation during the first charge. The Li2 Te significantly reduces the electrodeposition/electrodissolution overpotentials and improves Coulombic efficiency (CE). During continuous electrodeposition experiments using half-cells (1 mA cm-2 ), the accumulated thickness of electrodeposited Li on Li2 Te-Cu is more than 70 µm, which is the thickness of the Li foil counter-electrode. Full AF-ASSB with NMC811 cathode delivers an initial CE of 83% at 0.2C, with a cycling CE above 99%. Cryogenic focused ion beam (Cryo-FIB) sectioning demonstrates uniform electrodeposited metal microstructure, with no signs of voids or dendrites at the collector-SE interface. Electrodissolution is uniform and complete, with Li2 Te remaining structurally stable and adherent. By contrast, an unmodified Cu current-collector promotes inhomogeneous Li electrodeposition/electrodissolution, electrochemically inactive "dead metal," dendrites that extend into SE, and thick non-uniform solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) interspersed with pores. Density functional theory (DFT) and mesoscale calculations provide complementary insight regarding nucleation-growth behavior. Unlike conventional liquid-electrolyte metal batteries, the role of current collector/support lithiophilicity has not been explored for emerging AF-ASSBs.
ABSTRACT
This is the first report of molybdenum carbide-based electrocatalyst for sulfur-based sodium-metal batteries. MoC/Mo2 C is in situ grown on nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes in parallel with formation of extensive nanoporosity. Sulfur impregnation (50 wt% S) results in unique triphasic architecture termed molybdenum carbide-porous carbon nanotubes host (MoC/Mo2 C@PCNT-S). Quasi-solid-state phase transformation to Na2 S is promoted in carbonate electrolyte, with in situ time-resolved Raman, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and optical analyses demonstrating minimal soluble polysulfides. MoC/Mo2 C@PCNT-S cathodes deliver among the most promising rate performance characteristics in the literature, achieving 987 mAh g-1 at 1 A g-1 , 818 mAh g-1 at 3 A g-1 , and 621 mAh g-1 at 5 A g-1 . The cells deliver superior cycling stability, retaining 650 mAh g-1 after 1000 cycles at 1.5 A g-1 , corresponding to 0.028% capacity decay per cycle. High mass loading cathodes (64 wt% S, 12.7 mg cm-2 ) also show cycling stability. Density functional theory demonstrates that formation energy of Na2 Sx (1 ≤ x ≤ 4) on surface of MoC/Mo2 C is significantly lowered compared to analogous redox in liquid. Strong binding of Na2 Sx (1 ≤ x ≤ 4) on MoC/Mo2 C surfaces results from charge transfer between the sulfur and Mo sites on carbides' surface.
ABSTRACT
This is the first report of a multifunctional separator for potassium-metal batteries (KMBs). Double-coated tape-cast microscale AlF3 on polypropylene (AlF3 @PP) yields state-of-the-art electrochemical performance: symmetric cells are stable after 1000 cycles (2000 h) at 0.5 mA cm-2 and 0.5 mAh cm-2 , with 0.042 V overpotential. Stability is maintained at 5.0 mA cm-2 for 600 cycles (240 h), with 0.138 V overpotential. Postcycled plated surface is dendrite-free, while stripped surface contains smooth solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). Conventional PP cells fail rapidly, with dendrites at plating, and "dead metal" and SEI clumps at stripping. Potassium hexacyanoferrate(III) cathode KMBs with AlF3 @PP display enhanced capacity retention (91% at 100 cycles vs 58%). AlF3 partially reacts with K to form an artificial SEI containing KF, AlF3 , and Al2 O3 phases. The AlF3 @PP promotes complete electrolyte wetting and enhances uptake, improves ion conductivity, and increases ion transference number. The higher of K+ transference number is ascribed to the strong interaction between AlF3 and FSI- anions, as revealed through 19 F NMR. The enhancement in wetting and performance is general, being demonstrated with ester- and ether-based solvents, with K-, Na-, or Li- salts, and with different commercial separators. In full batteries, AlF3 prevents Fe crossover and cycling-induced cathode pulverization.
ABSTRACT
Herein we report on using Egyptian blue as an anode material for Li-ion batteries. A 1st cycle lithiation capacity of 594 mA h g-1 and reversible capacity of 210 mA h g-1 at 20 mA g-1, and at 500 mA g-1 a reversible capacity of 120 mA h g-1 (stable over 1000 cycles) were achieved with coulombic efficiency more than 99.5%. Using X-ray diffraction, and FTIR and X-ray absorption spectroscopies we found that the material goes through a conversion reaction during the 1st cycle that results in the formation of amorphous mixed oxides with copper nanoclusters.
ABSTRACT
Solid-state Li batteries require solid electrolytes which have high Li+ conductivity and good chemical/mechanical compatibility with Li metal anodes and high energy cathodes. Structure/function correlations which relate local bonding to macroscopic properties are needed to guide development of new solid electrolyte materials. This study combines diffraction measurements with solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (ssNMR) and neutron pair distribution function (nPDF) analysis to probe the short-range vs. long-range structure of glass-ceramic Li3PS4-based solid electrolytes. This work demonstrates how different synthesis conditions (e.g., solvent selection and thermal processing) affect the resulting polyanionic network. More specifically, structures with high P coordination numbers (e.g., PS4 3- and P2S7 4-) correlate with higher Li+ mobility compared to other polyanions (e.g., (PS3)n n- chains and P2S6 4-). Overall, this work demonstrates how ssNMR and nPDF can be used to draw key structure/function correlations for solid-state superionic conductors.
ABSTRACT
Accurately identifying the local structural heterogeneity of complex, disordered amorphous materials such as amorphous silicon is crucial for accelerating technology development. However, short-range atomic ordering quantification and nanoscale spatial resolution over a large area on a-Si have remained major challenges and practically unexplored. We resolve phonon vibrational modes of a-Si at a lateral resolution of <60 nm by tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. To project the high dimensional TERS imaging to a two-dimensional manifold space and categorize amorphous silicon structure, we developed a multiresolution manifold learning algorithm. It allows for quantifying average Si-Si distortion angle and the strain free energy at nanoscale without a human-specified physical threshold. The multiresolution feature of the multiresolution manifold learning allows for distilling local defects of ultra-low abundance (< 0.3%), presenting a new Raman mode at finer resolution grids. This work promises a general paradigm of resolving nanoscale structural heterogeneity and updating domain knowledge for highly disordered materials.
ABSTRACT
Disordered rocksalt (DRX) cathodes have attracted interest due to their high capacity and compositional flexibility (e.g., Co-free chemistries). However, the sloping voltage profile and gradual capacity fade during cycling have hindered the widespread adoption of these materials. Simulations predict that fluorine substitution in DRX cathodes will improve their capacity, rate performance, and cyclability. In this study, we use a fluidized bed reactor to fluorinate a model Li-rich DRX composition (Li1.15Ni0.375Ti0.375Mo0.1O2, NTMO) to investigate how fluorine content impacts the cathode's structure and electrochemical performance. Instead of substituting O with F to form oxyfluoride phases, direct fluorination of DRX cathodes leads to the formation of LiF surface films, which improves the specific energy and capacity retention. This study demonstrates the feasibility of direct fluorination to improve the electrochemical performance of high-voltage cathodes by tuning the material's surface chemistry.
ABSTRACT
Potassium (K) metal anodes suffer from a challenging problem of dendrite growth. Here, it is demonstrated that a tailored current collector will stabilize the metal plating-stripping behavior even with a conventional KPF6 -carbonate electrolyte. A 3D copper current collector is functionalized with partially reduced graphene oxide to create a potassiophilic surface, the electrode being denoted as rGO@3D-Cu. Potassiophilic versus potassiophobic experiments demonstrate that molten K fully wets rGO@3D-Cu after 6 s, but does not wet unfunctionalized 3D-Cu. Electrochemically, a unique synergy is achieved that is driven by interfacial tension and geometry: the adherent rGO underlayer promotes 2D layer-by-layer (Frank-van der Merwe) metal film growth at early stages of plating, while the tortuous 3D-Cu electrode reduces the current density and geometrically frustrates dendrites. The rGO@3D-Cu symmetric cells and half-cells achieve state-of-the-art plating and stripping performance. The symmetric rGO@3D-Cu cells exhibit stable cycling at 0.1-2 mA cm-2 , while baseline Cu prematurely fails when the current reaches 0.5 mA cm-2 . The half-cells cells of rGO@3D-Cu (no K reservoir) are stable at 0.5 mA cm-2 for 10 000 min (100 cycles), and at 1 mA cm-2 for 5000 min. The baseline 3D-Cu, planar rGO@Cu, and planar Cu foil fails after 5110, 3012, and 1410 min, respectively.
ABSTRACT
This is the first report of successful potassium metal battery anode cycling with an aluminum-based rather than copper-based current collector. Dendrite-free plating/stripping is achieved through improved electrolyte wetting, employing an aluminum-powder-coated aluminum foil "Al@Al," without any modification of the support surface chemistry or electrolyte additives. The reservoir-free Al@Al half-cell is stable at 1000 cycles (1950 h) at 0.5 mA cm-2 , with 98.9% cycling Coulombic efficiency and 0.085 V overpotential. The pre-potassiated cell is stable through a wide current range, including 130 cycles (2600 min) at 3.0 mA cm-2 , with 0.178 V overpotential. Al@Al is fully wetted by a 4 m potassium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide-dimethoxyethane electrolyte (θCA = 0°), producing a uniform solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) during the initial galvanostatic formation cycles. On planar aluminum foil with a nearly identical surface oxide, the electrolyte wets poorly (θCA = 52°). This correlates with coarse irregular SEI clumps at formation, 3D potassium islands with further SEI coarsening during plating/stripping, possibly dead potassium metal on stripped surfaces, and rapid failure. The electrochemical stability of Al@Al versus planar Al is not related to differences in potassiophilicity (nearly identical) as obtained from thermal wetting experiments. Planar Cu foils are also poorly electrolyte-wetted and become dendritic. The key fundamental takeaway is that the incomplete electrolyte wetting of collectors results in early onset of SEI instability and dendrites.
ABSTRACT
In this work, the spatial (in)homogeneity of aqueous processed silicon electrodes using standard poly(acrylic acid)-based binders and slurry preparation conditions is demonstrated. X-ray nanotomography shows segregation of materials into submicron-thick layers depending on the mixing method and starting binder molecular weights. Using a dispersant, or in situ production of dispersant from the cleavage of the binder into smaller molecular weight species, increases the resulting lateral homogeneity while drastically decreasing the vertical homogeneity as a result of sedimentation and separation due to gravitational forces. This data explains some of the variability in the literature with respect to silicon electrode performance and demonstrates two potential ways to improve slurry-based electrode fabrications.
ABSTRACT
A stable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) has been proven to be a key enabler to most advanced battery chemistries, where the reactivity between the electrolyte and the anode operating beyond the electrolyte stability limits must be kinetically suppressed by such SEIs. The graphite anode used in state-of-the-art Li-ion batteries presents the most representative SEI example. Because of similar operation potentials between graphite and silicon (Si), a similar passivation mechanism has been thought to apply on the Si anode when using the same carbonate-based electrolytes. In this work, we found that the chemical formation process of a proto-SEI on Si is closely entangled with incessant SEI decomposition, detachment, and reparation, which lead to continuous lithium consumption. Using a special galvanostatic protocol designed to observe the SEI formation prior to Si lithiation, we were able to deconvolute the electrochemical formation of such dynamic SEI from the morphology and mechanical complexities of Si and showed that a pristine Si anode could not be fully passivated in carbonate-based electrolytes.