Alloys lithium

Uses. The largest use of lithium metal is in the production of organometaUic alkyl and aryl lithium compounds by reactions of lithium dispersions with the corresponding organohaHdes. Lithium metal is also used in organic syntheses for preparations of alkoxides and organosilanes, as weU as for reductions. Other uses for the metal include fabricated lithium battery components and manufacture of lithium alloys. It is also used for production of lithium hydride and lithium nitride. 

Metallurgy. Lithium forms alloys with numerous metals. Early uses of lithium alloys were made in Germany with the production of the lead alloy, BahnmetaH (0.04% Li), which was used for bearings for railroad cars, and the aluminum alloy, Scleron. In the United States, the aluminum alloy X-2020 (4.5% Cu, 1.1% Li, 0.5% Mn, 0.2% Cd, balance Al) was introduced in 1957 for stmctural components of naval aircraft. The lower density and stmctural strength enhancement of aluminum lithium alloys compared to normal aluminum alloys make it attractive for uses in airframes. A distinct lithium—aluminum phase (Al Li) forms in the alloy which bonds tightly to the host aluminum matrix to yield about a 10% increase in the modules of elasticity of the aluminum lithium alloys produced by the main aluminum producers. The density of the alloys is about 10% less than that of other stmctural aluminum alloys. 

Fig. 11. Modulus inciease as a function of fibei volume fraction alumina fiber-reinforced aluminum—lithium alloy matrix for (a) E (elastic modulus),...

Coin and Button Cell Commercial Systems. Initial commercialization of rechargeable lithium technology has been through the introduction of coin or button cells. The eadiest of these systems was the Li—C system commercialized by Matsushita Electric Industries (MEI) in 1985 (26,27). The negative electrode consists of a lithium alloy and the positive electrode consists of activated carbon [7440-44-0J, carbon black, and binder. The discharge curve is not flat, but rather slopes from about 3 V to 1.5 V in a manner similar to a capacitor. Use of lithium alloy circumvents problems with cycle life, dendrite formation, and safety. However, the system suffers from generally low energy density. 

Aluminium-lithium alloys Al -r 3 Li Low density and good strength aircraft skins and spars. 

The sample was a lithium alloy mounted in epoxy. As the ion beam was scanned across the epoxy-metal interface, the C signal dropped and the Li signal increased. 

S.C. Chang, J, W, Jeh, D C. Luu," The superplasticity of aluminium - lithium alloys" Sixth International Aluminium - Lithium Conference, Garmisch - Partenkirchen, aluminhium -Lithium vol. 1. 1047-1052, 1992, Publ Deutsche Gesellschaft fiir Materialkunde e.V. Oberursel, Germany. 

When Al, Pt, Ni, or Cu is used as the substrate of lithium plating with 1 mol L 1 LiC104- PC/l, 2 -dimethoxyethane (DME), Eff decreases in the order is Al > Pt > Ni > Cu [26]. Lithium is easily alloyed electrochemically with many metals [27] the Eff values measured in these experiments could include those of lithium alloys. 

Whereas there had been a significant amount of work on the properties of lithium alloys in the research community for a number of years, this alternative did not receive much attention in the commercial world until about 1990, when Sony began producing batteries with lithium-carbon negative electrodes. Since then, there has been a large amount of work on the preparation, structure, and properties of various carbons in lithium cells. 

Attention has been given for some time to the use of lithium alloys as an alternative to elemental lithium. Groups working on batteries with molten salt electrolytes that operate at temperatures of 400-450 °C, well above the melting point of lithium, were especially interested in this possibility. Two major directions evolved. One involved the use of lithium-aluminium alloys [5, 6], whereas another was concerned with lithium-silicon alloys [7-9]. 

Lithium alloys have been used for a number of years in the high-temperature "thermal batteries" that are produced commercially for military purposes. These devices are designed to be stored for long periods at ambient temperatures before use, where their self-discharge kinetic be-... 

The first use of lithium alloys as negative electrodes in commercial batteries to operate at ambient temperatures was the employment of Wood s metal alloys in lithium-conducting button-type cells by Matsushita in Japan. Development work on the use of these alloys started in 1983 [10], and they became commercially available somewhat later. 

There are some other matters that should be considered when comparing metallic lithium alloys with the lithium-carbons. The specific volume of some of the metallic alloys can be considerably lower than that of the carbonaceous materials. As will be seen later, it is possible by selection among the metallic materials to find good kinetics and electrode potentials that are sufficiently far from that of pure lithium for there to be a much lower possibility of the potentially dangerous forma-... 

A series of experiments have been undertaken to evaluate the relevant thermodynamic properties of a number of binary lithium alloy systems. The early work was directed towards determination of their behavior at about 400 °C because of interest in their potential use as components in molten salt batteries operating in that general temperature range. Data for a number of binary lithium alloy systems at about 400 °C are presented in Table 1. These were mostly obtained by the use of an experimental arrangement employing the LiCl-KCl eutectic molten salt as a lithiumconducting electrolyte. 

Table 1. Plateau potentials and composition ranges of some binary lithium alloys Li v.M at400°C.

It is thus much better to measure the chemical diffusion coefficient directly. Descriptions of electrochemical methods for doing this, as well as the relevant theoretical background, can be found in the literature [33, 34]. Available data on the chemical diffusion coefficient in a number of lithium alloys are included in Table 3. 

Table 3. Data on chemical diffusion in lithium alloy phases.

In order to achieve appreciable macro Figure 12. Plateau potentials of seven lithium alloy scopic current densities while maintaining systems at ambient temperature 42J. 

The recent development of the convertible oxide materials at Fuji Photo Film Co. will surely cause much more attention to be given to alternative lithium alloy negative electrode materials in the near future from both scientific and technological standpoints. This work has shown that it may pay not only to consider different known materials, but also to think about various strategies that might be used to form attractive materials in situ inside the electrochemical cell. 

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