Lithium salts electrolytic conductivity

PAN-based lithium-salt electrolytes are obtained by plasticizing the electrolytes with propylene carbonate, ethylene carbonate, dimethylformamide, dimetltylsulfoxide, etc. These compotrrrds are considered solvents in other applications bnt in these electrolytes they are used to lower the glass transition temperature, dissolve salt, and make the polymer amorphous. Some of these functions are typical of plasticizers. An improved version of the electrolyte is based on ternary mixtrues of plasticizers consisting ethylene, propylene andbntylene carbonates. This mixture improves low temperature conductivity. 

W. A. Henderson, D. M. Seo, Q. Zhou, P. D. Boyle, J.-H. Shin, H. C. De Long, P. C. Trulove, S. Passerini, Adv. Energy Mater. 2012,2,8014-8019. An alternative ionic conductivity mechanism for plastic crystalline salt-lithium salt electrolyte mixtures. 

Table 17.17 Conductivities of various liquid lithium salt electrolytes.

The metallic salts of trifluoromethanesulfonic acid can be prepared by reaction of the acid with the corresponding hydroxide or carbonate or by reaction of sulfonyl fluoride with the corresponding hydroxide. The salts are hydroscopic but can be dehydrated at 100°C under vacuum. The sodium salt has a melting point of 248°C and decomposes at 425°C. The lithium salt of trifluoromethanesulfonic acid [33454-82-9] CF SO Li, commonly called lithium triflate, is used as a battery electrolyte in primary lithium batteries because solutions of it exhibit high electrical conductivity, and because of the compound s low toxicity and excellent chemical stabiUty. It melts at 423°C and decomposes at 430°C. It is quite soluble in polar organic solvents and water. Table 2 shows the electrical conductivities of lithium triflate in comparison with other lithium electrolytes which are much more toxic (24). 

Poly(ethylene oxide) associates in solution with certain electrolytes (48—52). For example, high molecular weight species of poly(ethylene oxide) readily dissolve in methanol that contains 0.5 wt % KI, although the resin does not remain in methanol solution at room temperature. This salting-in effect has been attributed to ion binding, which prevents coagulation in the nonsolvent. Complexes with electrolytes, in particular lithium salts, have received widespread attention on account of the potential for using these materials in a polymeric battery. The performance of soHd electrolytes based on poly(ethylene oxide) in terms of ion transport and conductivity has been discussed (53—58). The use of complexes of poly(ethylene oxide) in analytical chemistry has also been reviewed (59). 

A second class of important electrolytes for rechargeable lithium batteries are soHd electrolytes. Of particular importance is the class known as soHd polymer electrolytes (SPEs). SPEs are polymers capable of forming complexes with lithium salts to yield ionic conductivity. The best known of the SPEs are the lithium salt complexes of poly(ethylene oxide) [25322-68-3] (PEO), —(CH2CH20) —, and poly(propylene oxide) [25322-69-4] (PPO) (11—13). Whereas a number of experimental battery systems have been constmcted using PEO and PPO electrolytes, these systems have not exhibited suitable conductivities at or near room temperature. Advances in the 1980s included a new class of SPE based on polyphosphazene complexes suggesting that room temperature SPE batteries may be achievable (14,15). 

This section reports on the current state of knowledge on nonaqueous electrolytes for lithium batteries and lithium-ion batteries. The term electrolyte in the current text refers to an ion-conducting solution which consists of a solvent S and a salt, here generally a lithium salt. Often 1 1-salts of the LiX type are preferred for reasons given below only a few l 2-salts Li2X have attained some importance for batteries, and 1 3-salts Li3X are not in use. 

Ion-conductive properties of anion-trapping-type organoboron polymer electrolytes was evaluated after adding lithium salts (Fig. 3). In these systems, ionic conductivity of 3.05 X 10 s 5.22 X 10 6Scm 1 was observed at 50°C. This indicates... 

In the presence of lithium salts, the temperature dependence of ionic conductivity for the polymer electrolytes obtained was evaluated. In the presence of LiCF3S03,... 

In the nonaqueous organic solvent-based systems used for lithium batteries, the conductivities are of the order of 10 —10 S/cm k Compared to water, most organic solvents have a lower solvating power and a lower dielectric constant. This favors ion pair formation, even at low salt concentration. Ion pair formation lowers the conductivity as the ions are no longer free and bound to each other. Organic electrolytes show lower conductivities and much higher... 

Figure 48. Anodic stability as measured on a spinel LL-Mn204 cathode surface for EMS-based electrolytes (a) Lilm (b) LiC104 (c) LiTf. In all cases, 1.0 m lithium salt solutions were used, and slow scan voltammetry was conducted at 0.1 mV s with lithium as counter and reference electrodes and spinel LiJV[n204 as working electrode. (Reproduced with permission from ref 75 (Figure 3). Copyright 1998 The Electrochemical Society.)...

Figure 64. Arrhenius plots of the ion conductivities for the electrolytes composed of 1.0 m lithium salts in PC/EC/ EMC (1 1 3). (Reproduced with permission from ref 134 (Figure 1). Copyright 2002 Elsevier.)...

Lithium polymer electrolytes formed by dissolving a lithium salt LiX (where X is preferably a large soft anion) in poly(ethylene oxide) PEO can find useful application as separators in lithium rechargeable polymer batteries.Thin films must be used due to the relatively high ionic resistivity of these polymers. For example, the lithium-ion conductivity of PEO—Li salt complexes at 100 °C is still only about Viooth the conductivity of a typical aqueous solution. 

Abraham et al. were the first ones to propose saturating commercially available microporous polyolefin separators (e.g., Celgard) with a solution of lithium salt in a photopolymerizable monomer and a nonvolatile electrolyte solvent. The resulting batteries exhibited a low discharge rate capability due to the significant occlusion of the pores with the polymer binder and the low ionic conductivity of this plasticized electrolyte system. Dasgupta and Ja-cobs patented several variants of the process for the fabrication of bonded-electrode lithium-ion batteries, in which a microporous separator and electrode were coated with a liquid electrolyte solution, such as ethylene—propylenediene (EPDM) copolymer, and then bonded under elevated temperature and pressure conditions. This method required that the whole cell assembling process be carried out under scrupulously anhydrous conditions, which made it very difficult and expensive. 

Note 1 An example of a solid polymer electrolyte is a solution of a lithium salt in a poly(oxyethylene) matrix the ionic conductivity of such material is due to the mobility of lithium cations and their counterions in an electric field. 

For using lithium batteries (which generally have high energy densities) under extreme conditions, more durable and better conducting electrolytes are necessary. Salt-in-polymer electrolytes discovered by Angell et al. (1993) seem to provide the answer. Polypropylene oxide or polyethylene oxide is dissolved in low melting point mixtures of lithium salts to obtain rubbery materials which are excellent lithium-ion conductors at ambient temperatures. 

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