Batteries lithium-air

Fig. 11.7 Schematic diagram of an all-solid state lithium-air battery using lithium anode, an inorganic solid electrolyte, and an air electrode composed of carbon nanotubes and solid electrolyte particles. Reprinted with permission from Hirokazu Kitaura etai, Energy Environ. Sci., 2012, 5,...

Development of lithium ion batteries proved to be a power factor of technical advance. While at present such batteries form the base for portable electronics, in the near future, one could look forward to wide application of larger devices based on lithium ion batteries, including their application in electric transport and smart grids. However, many researchers at present have already started attempting to predict the further development of batteries that fundamentally differ from lithium ion batteries. One can identify three electrochemical systems against various possible new battery variants (i) lithium-air batteries, (ii) lithium-sulfur batteries, and (iii) sodium ion batteries. 

A reversible lithium-air system was first implemented on a laboratory scale in 1996. In this cell, the gel-polymer electrolyte was pressed between lithium foil on the one side and an air electrode on the other. (Later, usual liquid electrolyte in a porous, for example, glass fabric, separator was often used in lithium-air batteries). The whole cell was sealed into a plastic container ( coffee bag ) and small holes were made in the container wall adjacent to the air electrode to supply air under discharge and remove oxygen under charging. The air electrode was made of a mixture of particles of polymer electrolyte and carbon black with the catalyst supported on its surface (cobalt phthalocyanine). 

The air electrode operation is largely determined by the catalyst. In the above first version of the lithium-air battery, the catalyst was pyrolyzed cobalt phthalocya-nine. Later, manganese dioxide applied on a carbon support became the most popular catalyst. As a rule, carbon black is treated by a solution containing potassium permanganate and a bivalent manganese salt to obtain the catalytically active material of the positive electrode. Because of the disproportionation reaction. 

All problems of reversible lithium electrodes in contact with liquid electrolyte mentioned in Chapter 12 are preserved (dendrite formation and encapsulation) in the case of the operation of a metallic lithium electrode in lithium-air batteries. Besides, additional problems arise in the operation of lithium-air batteries as the positive electrode contacts the atmosphere, the processes of absorption of water vapor, oxygen, and CO2 and their transport through electrolyte to the lithium electrode surface also, organic solvent evaporation through the pores of the positive electrode occurs inevitably. To eliminate the evaporation of liquid electrolyte and prevent water vapor transport through electrolyte, it was suggested to use electrolytes based on... 

As well known, air electrodes in systems with aqueous solutions feature the best characteristics in alkaline solutions. Unfortunately, the LiSICON-type materials are destroyed and lose ionic conductivity in alkaline solutions. Therefore, using neutral solutions, particularly, buffer solutions containing acetic acid and lithium acetate in lithium-air batteries is suggested. Certainly, the processes on the positive electrode in this case are not described by Equations (13.1) and (13.4), but by equations... 

Within the field of rechargeable non-aqueous lithium-air batteries, the use of metallic foam also has been proposed. A sponge-like epsilon-Mn02 nanostructure was obtained by direct growth of epsilon-Mn02 on Ni foam through an electrodeposition method [82]. The observed improvement of the electrochemistry was associated with the 3D nanoporous structures, oxygen defects and the absence of side reactions related to conductive additives and binders. 

Franco AA, Xue KH (2013) Carbon-based electrodes for lithium air batteries scitattific and technological challenges from a modeling perspective. ECS J Solid State Sci Technol 2(10) ... 

KuboM, T Okuyama, T Ohsald, T Takami, N, Lithium-air batteries using hydrophobic room temperature ionic liquid electrolyte, J. Power Sources, 2004,146, 766-769. 

G. Girishkumar, B. McQoskey, A. C. Luntz, S. Swanson, W. Wilcke, Lithium—Air Battery Promise and Challenges, The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters 2010, 1, 2193-2203. 

Thapa, A. K. Ishihara, T, Mesoporous a-Mn02/Pd catalyst air electrode for rechargeable lithium-air battery. Journal of Power Sources 2011,196, 7016-7020. 

Zhang, Z., et al., Increased Stability toward Oxygen Reduction Products for Lithium-Air Batteries with OUgoether-FunctionaUzed Silane Electrolytes. 7. Phys. Chem. C 2011, 775, 25535-25542. 

Laino, X Cuiioni, A., A New Piece in the Puzzle of Lithium/Air Batteries Computational Study on the Chemical Stability of Propylene Carbonate in the Presence of Lithium Peroxide. Chem. Eur. J. 2012,18, 3510-3520. 

Xu, W. Xiao, J. Wang, D. Zhtuig, J. Zhang, J.-G., Crown Ethers in Nonaqueous Electrolytes for Lithium/Air Batteries. Electrochemical and Solid-State Letters 2010,13, A48-A51. 

Lithium-air batteries [28] may also use a solid separator that will block dendrite growth from the anode to the cathode but allows permeation of the Li" ion between an anolyte and a catholyte. The simplest such separator would be a solid Li -ion solid electrolyte, but a porous glass containing the liquid electrolyte has been used where the anolyte and the catholyte are identical. As in the Zn-air primary battery, a porous carbon containing an oxygen-reduction catalyst on the pore walls and the liquid electrolyte in the pores provides the structure needed to facilitate the catalytic reaction of Li" ions with the gaseous O2 cathode. The cathodic reaction... 

Lu Y-C, Xu Z, Gasteiger HA, Chtm S, Hamad-SchifferU K, Shao-Hom Y (2010) Platinum-gold nanoparticles a highly active bifimetional electrocatalyst for rechargeable lithium-air batteries. J Am Chem Soc 132 12170-12171. doi 10.102/jal036572... 

Ren X, Zhang SS, Tran DT, Read J (2011) Oxygen reduction reactirm catalyst on lithium/air battery discharge performance. J Mater Chem 21 10118-10125... 

Girishkumar, G., McCloskey, B., Luntz, A.C. et al. (2010) Lithium-air battery promise and challenges. The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 1, 2193-2203. 

Abstract Despite the versatility of lithium-ion cell chemistry, some specihc applications require performance parameters that cannot be met by lithium-ion cells alone. Therefore, the field of hybrid systems containing a lithium-ion component and another power or energy component is rapidly growing. Hybrid power systems such as lithium-ion cells with ultracapacitors, as well as lithium-ion cells with lithium-air batteries are discussed herein. 

Hybrid power sources containing lithium-ion cells or batteries are introduced in Chap. 6. In this chapter, the rationale behind hybrid systems is given, along with the advantages and disadvantages of these devices. Hybrid power systems, such as lithium-ion cell with an ultracapacitor as well as lithium-ion cell with a lithium-air battery are analyzed in this chapter, supported by specific examples of hybrid systems and their demonstrated performance. 

Lithium-Air Battery, Tabie 1 Theoretical electromotive force and theoretical energy density of various metal-air batteries... 

---