Effects of Nonaqueous Electrolytes on the Performance of Lithium/Air Batteries

The effects of various properties of nonaqueous electrolytes on the performance of lithium/air batteries are investigated. The performance of a lithium/air battery is determined by the number of triphase regions formed by oxygen, electrolyte, and active carbons (with catalyst). The oxygen diffusion rate through the open channels (strongly related to the polarity of the electrolyte) is several orders of magnitude larger than that through the liquid electrolyte; therefore, the electrolyte polarity is the most important factor on the performance of lithium/air batteries compared with other properties of the electrolyte, such as oxygen solubility, viscosity, and ionic conductivity. The quantity of the electrolyte added to a cell also significantly affects the discharge performance of the lithium/air battery, and a clear maximum in capacity is observed as a function of the electrolyte amount. The addition of tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane as a functional additive and cosolvent in electrolytes can help dissolve partial Li 2 O and Li 2 O 2 formed during the battery discharge process, which is beneficial to increasing the discharge capacity. However, this addition also largely reduces the contact angle and increases the electrolyte viscosity, thus decreasing the discharge capacity of the lithium/air battery.

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

[2]  P. Bruce,et al.  Rechargeable LI2O2 electrode for lithium batteries. , 2006, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[3]  Jeffrey Read,et al.  Characterization of the Lithium/Oxygen Organic Electrolyte Battery , 2002 .

[4]  O. Madelung,et al.  Static Dielectric Constants of Pure Liquids and Binary Liquid Mixtures , 1991 .

[5]  Matthew H. Ervin,et al.  Oxygen Transport Properties of Organic Electrolytes and Performance of Lithium/Oxygen Battery , 2003 .

[6]  Takashi Kuboki,et al.  Lithium-air batteries using hydrophobic room temperature ionic liquid electrolyte , 2005 .

[7]  Ping He,et al.  Preparation of mesocellular carbon foam and its application for lithium/oxygen battery , 2009 .

[8]  Peter G Bruce,et al.  Alpha-MnO2 nanowires: a catalyst for the O2 electrode in rechargeable lithium batteries. , 2008, Angewandte Chemie.

[9]  P. Bruce,et al.  An O2 cathode for rechargeable lithium batteries: The effect of a catalyst , 2007 .

[10]  Xiao‐Qing Yang,et al.  New electrolytes for lithium ion batteries using LiF salt and boron based anion receptors , 2008 .

[11]  Yongyao Xia,et al.  The effect of oxygen pressures on the electrochemical profile of lithium/oxygen battery , 2009 .

[12]  J. Read.  Ether-Based Electrolytes for the Lithium/Oxygen Organic Electrolyte Battery , 2006 .

[13]  Zi-Feng Ma,et al.  Synthesis of a Series of Fluorinated Boronate Compounds and Their Use as Additives in Lithium Battery Electrolytes , 2004 .

[14]  James McBreen,et al.  New electrolytes using Li2O or Li2O2 oxides and tris(pentafluorophenyl) borane as boron based anion receptor for lithium batteries , 2008 .

[15]  Wu Xu,et al.  Optimization of Nonaqueous Electrolytes for Primary Lithium/Air Batteries Operated in Ambient Environment , 2009 .

[16]  Jeffrey Read,et al.  Discharge characteristic of a non-aqueous electrolyte Li/O2 battery , 2010 .

[17]  H. S. Lee,et al.  Synthesis and Study of New Cyclic Boronate Additives for Lithium Battery Electrolytes , 2002 .

[18]  Sharon L. Blair,et al.  High-Capacity Lithium–Air Cathodes , 2009 .

[19]  M. Salomon,et al.  Li-air batteries: A classic example of limitations owing to solubilities , 2007 .