Practical Lithium Air Batteries

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This project is centred around the development of a practical lithium air battery single cell with improved performance. Theproject consortium includes Queens University Belfast and Liverpool University as academic partners and JohnsonMatthey, Axeon, JLR and Air Products as the industrial partners.The instability of existing electrolytes to superoxides is a major barrier to achieving good cycle life in current laboratoryscale Li-air cells, due to capacity fade as a result of the formation of irreversible species from solvent decomposition thatoccurs if current Lithium ion battery organic electrolytes are used. Therefore, significant effort will focus on synthesisingnovel electrolytes capable of surviving operation in Li-air batteries, where a large operational voltage window and immunityto degradation from superoxide attack are key features, combined with practical levels of oxygen solubility and ionicconductivity. Novel ionic liquid electrolytes and blends will be synthesised using the expertise at QUB and also drawing onempirical and modelling results already available in the literature, relating to solvent stability in the presence of superoxide.Novel anode and cathode materials and catalysts will be prepared and tested (JM) in combination with improvedelectrolytes synthesised in the project (JM). Emphasis will also be placed on optimising cathode structures for the novelelectrolytes to achieve improved capacity, current density and cycle life (JM, Axeon). Understanding the cathode reactionsoxygen reduction during discharge and oxygen evolution during charge with new electrolytes via iR and Ramanspectroelectrochemistry techniques will be undertaken (Liverpool University) and the behaviour at the anode interface inthe novel electrolytes will also be explored. The wide variety of analytical techniques available via the different projectpartners including XPS, ATR, electron microscopy and electrochemical measurements will be applied within the project.Cell testing studies will investigating the effects of various parameters, pressure, temperature , charge rate, the effect ofcarbon dioxide and water impurities in inlet air and possible inlet air clean up strategies also be considered (JM, Axeon, AirProducts, JLR).The key outputs from the project will be an optimised single cell configuration with the best electrolyte, electrode materialand electrode structure combination, accompanied by understanding of the electrochemistry and the effect of cathodestructure and test parameters on battery performance and cyclability. These data contribute toward establishing thefeasibility of lithium air battery technology and will lay a firm foundation for future development of larger scaledemonstration systems .