In Operando Spatiotemporal Study of Li2O2Grain Growth and its Distribution Inside Operating Li-O2Batteries

Although dominating the consumer electronics markets as the power source of choice for popular portable devices, the common lithium battery is not yet suited for use in sustainable electrified road transport. The development of advanced, higher-energy lithium batteries is essential in the rapid establishment of the electric car market. Owing to its exceptionally high energy potentiality, the lithium-air battery is a very appealing candidate for fulfilling this role. However, the performance of such batteries has been limited to only a few charge-discharge cycles with low rate capability. Here, by choosing a suitable stable electrolyte and appropriate cell design, we demonstrate a lithium-air battery capable of operating over many cycles with capacity and rate values as high as 5,000 mAh g(carbon)(-1) and 3 A g(carbon)(-1), respectively. For this battery we estimate an energy density value that is much higher than those offered by the currently available lithium-ion battery technology.

Unraveling the fundamentals of Li-O(2) battery chemistry is crucial to develop practical cells with energy densities that could approach their high theoretical values. We report here a straightforward chemical approach that probes the outcome of the superoxide O(2)(-), thought to initiate the electrochemical processes in the cell. We show that this serves as a good measure of electrolyte and binder stability. Superoxide readily dehydrofluorinates polyvinylidene to give byproducts that react with catalysts to produce LiOH. The Li(2)O(2) product morphology is a function of these factors and can affect Li-O(2) cell performance. This methodology is widely applicable as a probe of other potential cell components.