A Long-Life Lithium-Air Battery in Ambient Air with a Polymer Electrolyte Containing a Redox Mediator.

Lithium-air batteries when operated in ambient air generally exhibit poor reversibility and cyclability, because of the Li passivation and Li2 O2 /LiOH/Li2 CO3 accumulation in the air electrode. Herein, we present a Li-air battery supported by a polymer electrolyte containing 0.05 m LiI, in which the polymer electrolyte efficiently alleviates the Li passivation induced by attacking air. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that I- /I2 conversion in polymer electrolyte acts as a redox mediator that facilitates electrochemical decomposition of the discharge products during recharge process. As a result, the Li-air battery can be stably cycled 400 times in ambient air (relative humidity of 15 %), which is much better than previous reports. The achievement offers a hope to develop the Li-air battery that can be operated in ambient air.

[1]  Taewoo Kim,et al.  Superior rechargeability and efficiency of lithium-oxygen batteries: hierarchical air electrode architecture combined with a soluble catalyst. , 2014, Angewandte Chemie.

[2]  Bruno Scrosati,et al.  The Lithium/Air Battery: Still an Emerging System or a Practical Reality? , 2015, Advanced materials.

[3]  Lee Johnson,et al.  Promoting solution phase discharge in Li-O2 batteries containing weakly solvating electrolyte solutions. , 2016, Nature materials.

[4]  Tao Zhang,et al.  The water catalysis at oxygen cathodes of lithium–oxygen cells , 2015, Nature Communications.

[5]  Yongyao Xia,et al.  A lithium air battery with a lithiated Al-carbon anode. , 2015, Chemical communications.

[6]  Yuhui Chen,et al.  Charging a Li-O₂ battery using a redox mediator. , 2013, Nature chemistry.

[7]  David G. Kwabi,et al.  Materials challenges in rechargeable lithium-air batteries , 2014 .

[8]  K. M. Abraham,et al.  A Polymer Electrolyte‐Based Rechargeable Lithium/Oxygen Battery , 1996 .

[9]  Haoshen Zhou,et al.  A reversible long-life lithium–air battery in ambient air , 2013, Nature Communications.

[10]  C. Grey,et al.  Response to Comment on “Cycling Li-O2 batteries via LiOH formation and decomposition” , 2016, Science.

[11]  Yuhui Chen,et al.  A stable cathode for the aprotic Li-O2 battery. , 2013, Nature materials.

[12]  Hye Ryung Byon,et al.  A structured three-dimensional polymer electrolyte with enlarged active reaction zone for Li–O2 batteries , 2014, Scientific Reports.

[13]  Hun‐Gi Jung,et al.  An improved high-performance lithium-air battery. , 2012, Nature chemistry.

[14]  Hong Li,et al.  Amorphous Li2 O2 : Chemical Synthesis and Electrochemical Properties. , 2016, Angewandte Chemie.

[15]  Venkatasubramanian Viswanathan,et al.  Solvating additives drive solution-mediated electrochemistry and enhance toroid growth in non-aqueous Li-O₂ batteries. , 2015, Nature chemistry.

[16]  Dan Xu,et al.  Tailoring deposition and morphology of discharge products towards high-rate and long-life lithium-oxygen batteries , 2013, Nature Communications.

[17]  Bruno Scrosati,et al.  Investigation of the O2 electrochemistry in a polymer electrolyte solid-state cell. , 2011, Angewandte Chemie.

[18]  Si Hyoung Oh,et al.  Synthesis of a metallic mesoporous pyrochlore as a catalyst for lithium–O2 batteries. , 2012, Nature chemistry.

[19]  P. Bruce,et al.  A Reversible and Higher-Rate Li-O2 Battery , 2012, Science.

[20]  Jusef Hassoun,et al.  A gel polymer membrane for lithium-ion oxygen battery , 2016 .

[21]  Tao Liu,et al.  Cycling Li-O2 batteries via LiOH formation and decomposition , 2015, Science.

[22]  Jusef Hassoun,et al.  A Polymer Lithium-Oxygen Battery , 2015, Scientific Reports.

[23]  Ping He,et al.  Exploring the electrochemical reaction mechanism of carbonate oxidation in Li–air/CO2 battery through tracing missing oxygen , 2016 .

[24]  Hee-Dae Lim,et al.  Rational design of redox mediators for advanced Li–O2 batteries , 2016, Nature Energy.

[25]  Jin Yi,et al.  A Unique Hybrid Quasi-Solid-State Electrolyte for Li-O2 Batteries with Improved Cycle Life and Safety. , 2016, ChemSusChem.

[26]  Y. Ein‐Eli,et al.  Liquid-free lithium-oxygen batteries. , 2014, Angewandte Chemie.

[27]  Jun Chen,et al.  Rechargeable Lithium-Iodine Batteries with Iodine/Nanoporous Carbon Cathode. , 2015, Nano letters.

[28]  Tao Zhang,et al.  From Li-O2 to Li-air batteries: carbon nanotubes/ionic liquid gels with a tricontinuous passage of electrons, ions, and oxygen. , 2012, Angewandte Chemie.

[29]  Yang-Kook Sun,et al.  Understanding the behavior of Li–oxygen cells containing LiI , 2015 .

[30]  Yang Liu,et al.  A Super‐Hydrophobic Quasi‐Solid Electrolyte for Li‐O2 Battery with Improved Safety and Cycle Life in Humid Atmosphere , 2017 .

[31]  Yongyao Xia,et al.  Humidity effect on electrochemical performance of Li–O2 batteries , 2014 .

[32]  Jong-Won Lee,et al.  A quasi-solid-state rechargeable lithium-oxygen battery based on a gel polymer electrolyte with an ionic liquid. , 2014, Chemical communications.

[33]  Zhigang Zak Fang,et al.  A lithium–oxygen battery based on lithium superoxide , 2016, Nature.

[34]  Dan Xu,et al.  Flexible lithium–oxygen battery based on a recoverable cathode , 2015, Nature Communications.

[35]  Xiaoli Dong,et al.  Ordered Hierarchical Mesoporous/Macroporous Carbon: A High‐Performance Catalyst for Rechargeable Li–O2 Batteries , 2013, Advanced materials.