Redox-Active Aqueous Microgels for Energy Storage Applications.

The search for new environmental-friendly materials for energy storage is ongoing. In the presented paper, we propose polymer microgels as a new class of redox-active colloids (RACs). The microgel stable colloids are perspective low-viscosity fluids for advanced flow batteries with high volumetric energy density. In this research, we describe the procedure for the anchoring of 4-amino-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (4-amino-TEMPO) redox-active sites to the polymeric chains of water-soluble microgels based on poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-poly(acrylic acid) interpenetrating networks. Using cyclic voltammetry and EPR spectroscopy, we show that ca. 14% of 4-amino-TEMPO groups retain electroactive properties and demonstrate the reversible redox response. It allows achieving a stable capacity of 2.5 mAh/g, enabling the low-viscous catholyte with a capacity of more than 100 mAh/L.

Lithium Planar Deposition vs Whisker Growth: Crucial Role of Surface Diffusion.

Lithium plating-one of the critical processes in the desired high-energy lithium metal batteries-is accompanied by lithium whisker growth, which causes several problems that prevent the employment of metallic lithium anodes in rechargeable systems. They include low coulombic efficiency, electrolyte consumption, and the risk of short circuits, which can lead to thermal runaway of the battery. In recent years several strategies were suggested to mitigate whisker growth. The mechanism of this process, however, still lacks understanding. Here, we reveal the importance of surface diffusion along grain boundaries in solid lithium. We show that, at first, the plating of lithium onto a lithium substrate is possible as bulk crystal growth with a planar crystallization front for the Li grains with oblique (nonperpendicular to the surface) grain boundaries. Further, the developed compressive stress makes lithium diffusion to the grain base unfavorable, and new grains nucleate at the surface. The latter are the cause of the whisker growth from their roots. These findings indicate that the control of grain-boundary diffusion and grain size and structure paves the way to overcome the nonuniform morphology of plated lithium.

Revising the pathways of the Li reaction with organic carbonates.

The metallic lithium electrode has major concerns such as extremely high reactivity and nonuniform needle-like electrodeposition, limiting its wide application as a negative electrode in secondary batteries. Its reactions with the electrolyte leading to solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) formation play an important role, and controlling its composition and properties can help to overcome both difficulties. Even though solid electrolyte interphase chemistry and properties seem to be well known, many surface chemistry experiments reported are not perfect with respect to the purity needed for Li studies and can be interpreted alternatively. Here, we studied reactions between lithium and propylene carbonate and ethylene carbonate in model reactions realized in an ultra-high vacuum. In addition to the already reported reaction pathway yielding lithium carbonate and semicarbonate, our theoretical (DFT) modeling confirms the preference of alternative routes. Along with the most beneficial final lithium carbonates, dilithium 1,2-dialkoxide (DD) can form barrierlessly as a final product by two-electron transfer. Experimental XPS/NEXAFS studies of gas phase and solid-gas model reactions revealed that in both cases DD is the main reaction product. Understanding of the discovered reaction pathway can also be essential for reactions in liquid electrolytes, although the low electric conductivity of the SEI makes it less probable.

Positive Electrode Passivation by Side Discharge Products in Li-O2 Batteries.

The development of high specific energy Li-O2 batteries faces a problem of poor cycling as a result of passivation of the positive electrode by both the discharge product (Li2O2) and side products (Li2CO3, etc.). The latter are the result of oxidation of the electrode materials or electrolyte components primarily by discharge intermediate superoxide anions (O2-) and, in less degree, by Li2O2. We report cyclic voltammetry studies of the electrode passivation in different relatively stable solvents. We found that slower passivation is observed for the electrolytes based on high donor number solvents or solvents with high viscosity. Moreover, such behavior is reproduced for three different electrode materials [glassy carbon (GC), TiC, and TiN] that pinpoints the primary role of different oxygen reduction reaction mechanisms (Li2O2 surface deposition or solution growth) influenced by Li+ solvation energy and solvent viscosity. The chemistry of interaction between LiO2/Li2O2 and the electrode/solvent turns out to be less important. Additionally, we found that, for the electrode made of GC and TiN in all electrolyte solutions, the passivation by side products suppresses oxygen reduction after a certain number of cycles. In contrast, for TiC after several cycles, further passivation does not happen as a result of the formation of a thin and stable TiO2 layer in high donor number solvents.

Homogeneous nucleation of Li2O2 under Li-O2 battery discharge.

The development of high-energy lithium-oxygen batteries has significantly slowed by numerous challenges including capacity limitations due to electrode surface passivation by the discharge product Li2O2. Since the passivation rate and intensity are dependent on the deposit morphology, herein, we focus on the mechanisms governing Li2O2 formation within the porous cathode. We report evidence of homogeneous nucleation of Li2O2 crystallites and their further assembly in bulk of the electrolyte solution in DMSO, which possesses a high donor number. After careful estimation of the superoxide ion concentration distribution within a phenomenological model, it was found that the high stability of superoxide ions formed during the ORR towards disproportionation and sufficient diffusivity of (0.5-1.2) × 10-6 cm2 s-1 enabled Li2O2 nucleation and crystallization not only at the surface but also in the electrolyte, and the reaction zone spread throughout the internal space of the porous electrode. High initial supersaturation promoted the homogeneous nucleation of Li2O2 nanoplates, which instantly assembled into mesocrystals also in the solution bulk. These results were supported by operando SAXS/WAXS and morphology observations. Thus, although homogeneous nucleation is not dominant, it is important for achieving a high capacity in Li-O2 batteries.

Free-standing Li+-conductive films based on PEO-PVDF blends.

Solid electrolytes are of high interest for the development of advanced electrochemical energy storage devices with all-solid-state architectures. Here, we report the fabrication of the electrolyte membranes based on LiTFSI (LiN(CF3SO2)2) and PEO-PVDF blends with improved properties. We show that addition of PVDF enables preparation of free-standing films of the compositions within the so called "crystallinity gap" of the LiTFSI-PEO system known to provide high ion conductivity. We show that optimal PVDF content enables preparation of the films with reasonable elastic modulus and high ionic conductivity of about 0.3 mS cm-1 at 60 °C and about 0.1 mS cm-1 at room-temperature. Combining FTIR spectroscopy, XRD and DSC measurements we show that a noticeable fraction of PVDF remains crystalline and enhances the mechanical properties of the material, and at the same time it additionally promotes LiTFSI dissociation and disordering. Density functional theory calculations showed that the Li+-PEO-PVDF complexation energy magnitude is almost as high as that of Li-PEO complexes, thus the salt dissociation ability can be retained in spite of the introduction of the substantial amounts of PVDF required for mechanical stability.

Small-angle neutron scattering studies of pore filling in carbon electrodes: mechanisms limiting lithium-air battery capacity.

Many obstacles impede the development of Li-air batteries for practical applications. In particular, there is lack of understanding of the dynamics of processes occurring in porous air electrodes during discharge, including oxygen transport limitations, pore clogging and electrode passivation by both insulating discharge and parasitic reaction products. Here, using small-angle neutron scattering, which provides information on the whole electrode adequate to electrochemical data, we uncover the mechanisms limiting the Li-O2 porous carbon electrode capacity by analysis of the cathode pore filling in highly and poorly solvating media - dimethyl sulfoxide and acetonitrile. The results obtained allowed us suppose that in both cases the cell death is mainly triggered by blocking of oxygen transport pathways inside carbon black particle agglomerates. Total discharge capacities are, indeed, higher in highly solvating solutions due to a higher discharge intermediate lifetime and longer diffusion distance, which enable Li2O2 formation outside the carbon black agglomerates, which are, as we demonstrated, in fact mesocrystals that are confirmed by the appearance of a diffraction peak in scattering curves.

Controlling Solution-Mediated Reaction Mechanisms of Oxygen Reduction Using Potential and Solvent for Aprotic Lithium-Oxygen Batteries.

Fundamental understanding of growth mechanisms of Li2O2 in Li-O2 cells is critical for implementing batteries with high gravimetric energies. Li2O2 growth can occur first by 1e(-) transfer to O2, forming Li(+)-O2(-) and then either chemical disproportionation of Li(+)-O2(-), or a second electron transfer to Li(+)-O2(-). We demonstrate that Li2O2 growth is governed primarily by disproportionation of Li(+)-O2(-) at low overpotential, and surface-mediated electron transfer at high overpotential. We obtain evidence supporting this trend using the rotating ring disk electrode (RRDE) technique, which shows that the fraction of oxygen reduction reaction charge attributable to soluble Li(+)-O2(-)-based intermediates increases as the discharge overpotential reduces. Electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM) measurements of oxygen reduction support this picture, and show that the dependence of the reaction mechanism on the applied potential explains the difference in Li2O2 morphologies observed at different discharge overpotentials: formation of large (∼250 nm-1 µm) toroids, and conformal coatings (<50 nm) at higher overpotentials. These results highlight that RRDE and EQCM can be used as complementary tools to gain new insights into the role of soluble and solid reaction intermediates in the growth of reaction products in metal-O2 batteries.

Experimental and Computational Analysis of the Solvent-Dependent O2/Li(+)-O2(-) Redox Couple: Standard Potentials, Coupling Strength, and Implications for Lithium-Oxygen Batteries.

Understanding and controlling the kinetics of O2 reduction in the presence of Li(+)-containing aprotic solvents, to either Li(+)-O2(-) by one-electron reduction or Li2 O2 by two-electron reduction, is instrumental to enhance the discharge voltage and capacity of aprotic Li-O2 batteries. Standard potentials of O2 /Li(+)-O2(-) and O2/O2(-) were experimentally measured and computed using a mixed cluster-continuum model of ion solvation. Increasing combined solvation of Li(+) and O2(-) was found to lower the coupling of Li(+)-O2(-) and the difference between O2/Li(+)-O2(-) and O2/O2(-) potentials. The solvation energy of Li(+) trended with donor number (DN), and varied greater than that of O2 (-) ions, which correlated with acceptor number (AN), explaining a previously reported correlation between Li(+)-O2(-) solubility and DN. These results highlight the importance of the interplay between ion-solvent and ion-ion interactions for manipulating the energetics of intermediate species produced in aprotic metal-oxygen batteries.

Oxygen reduction by lithiated graphene and graphene-based materials.

Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) plays a key role in lithium-air batteries (LABs) that attract great attention thanks to their high theoretical specific energy several times exceeding that of lithium-ion batteries. Because of their high surface area, high electric conductivity, and low specific weight, various carbons are often materials of choice for applications as the LAB cathode. Unfortunately, the possibility of practical application of such batteries is still under question as the sustainable operation of LABs with carbon cathodes is not demonstrated yet and the cyclability is quite poor, which is usually associated with oxygen reduced species side reactions. However, the mechanisms of carbon reactivity toward these species are still unclear. Here, we report a direct in situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study of oxygen reduction by lithiated graphene and graphene-based materials. Although lithium peroxide (Li2O2) and lithium oxide (Li2O) reactions with carbon are thermodynamically favorable, neither of them was found to react even at elevated temperatures. As lithium superoxide is not stable at room temperature, potassium superoxide (KO2) prepared in situ was used instead to test the reactivity of graphene with superoxide species. In contrast to Li2O2 and Li2O, KO2 was demonstrated to be strongly reactive.

Tailoring of the carbon nanowall microstructure by sharp variation of plasma radical composition.

In this paper we propose a new and simple method to tune the carbon nanowall microstructure by sharp variation of CH4/H2 plasma conditions. Using theoretical calculations we demonstrated that the sharp variation of gas pressure and discharge current leads to significant variation of plasma radical composition. In some cases such perturbation creates the necessary conditions for the nucleation of smaller secondary nanowalls on the surface of primary ones.

Lithium peroxide crystal clusters as a natural growth feature of discharge products in Li-O2 cells.

The often observed and still unexplained phenomenon of the growth of lithium peroxide crystal clusters during the discharge of Li-O2 cells is likely to happen because of self-assembling Li2O2 platelets that nucleate homogeneously right after the intermediate formation of superoxide ions by a single-electron oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). This feature limits the rechargeability of Li-O2 cells, but at the same time it can be beneficial for both capacity improvement and gain in recharge rate if a proper liquid phase mediator can be found.

Reactivity of carbon in lithium-oxygen battery positive electrodes.

Unfortunately, the practical applications of Li-O2 batteries are impeded by poor rechargeability. Here, for the first time we show that superoxide radicals generated at the cathode during discharge react with carbon that contains activated double bonds or aromatics to form epoxy groups and carbonates, which limits the rechargeability of Li-O2 cells. Carbon materials with a low amount of functional groups and defects demonstrate better stability thus keeping the carbon will-o'-the-wisp lit for lithium-air batteries.