In Situ Mass Spectrometric Determination of Molecular Structural Evolution at the Solid Electrolyte Interphase in Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Dynamic structural and chemical evolution at solid-liquid electrolyte interface is always a mystery for a rechargeable battery due to the challenge to directly probe a solid-liquid interface under reaction conditions. We describe the creation and usage of in situ liquid secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) for the first time to directly observe the molecular structural evolution at the solid-liquid electrolyte interface for a lithium (Li)-ion battery under dynamic operating conditions. We have discovered that the deposition of Li metal on copper electrode leads to the condensation of solvent molecules around the electrode. Chemically, this layer of solvent condensate tends to be depleted of the salt anions and with reduced concentration of Li(+) ions, essentially leading to the formation of a lean electrolyte layer adjacent to the electrode and therefore contributing to the overpotential of the cell. This observation provides unprecedented molecular level dynamic information on the initial formation of the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer. The present work also ultimately opens new avenues for implanting the in situ liquid SIMS concept to probe the chemical reaction process that intimately involves solid-liquid interface, such as electrocatalysis, electrodeposition, biofuel conversion, biofilm, and biomineralization.

An Efficient Synthesis Strategy for Metal-Organic Frameworks: Dry-Gel Synthesis of MOF-74 Framework with High Yield and Improved Performance.

Vapor-assisted dry-gel synthesis of the metal-organic framework-74 (MOF-74) structure, specifically Ni-MOF-74 produced from synthetic precursors using an organic-water hybrid solvent system, showed a very high yield (>90% with respect to 2,5-dihydroxyterepthalic acid) and enhanced performance. The Ni-MOF-74 obtained showed improved sorption characteristics towards CO2 and the refrigerant fluorocarbon dichlorodifluoromethane. Unlike conventional synthesis, which takes 72 hours using the tetrahydrofuran-water system, this kinetic study showed that Ni-MOF-74 forms within 12 hours under dry-gel conditions with similar performance characteristics, and exhibits its best performance characteristics even after 24 hours of heating. In the dry-gel conversion method, the physical separation of the solvent and precursor mixture allows for recycling of the solvent. We demonstrated efficient solvent recycling (up to three times) that resulted in significant cost benefits. The scaled-up manufacturing cost of Ni-MOF-74 synthesized via our dry-gel method is 45% of conventional synthesis cost. Thus, for bulk production of the MOFs, the proposed vapor-assisted, dry-gel method is efficient, simple, and inexpensive when compared to the conventional synthesis method.