Effect of Electrolyte Filling Technology on the Performance of Porous Carbon Electrode-Based Lithium-Oxygen Batteries

Abstract

Although the theoretical energy densities of lithium-oxygen batteries (LOBs) far exceed those of lithium-ion batteries, the practical values of the LOBs are usually much lower because of the use of large electrolyte excesses. Thus, to realize LOBs with a high practical energy density, the electrolyte amount should be minimized without compromising their performance. To address this challenge, we herein investigate the influence of several electrolyte filling techniques on the performance of LOBs, revealing that the battery discharge/charge profiles are strongly influenced by the uniformity of electrolyte distribution in the porous carbon electrode. The obtained results show the importance of electrolyte filling technology for realization of practical high-energy-density LOBs and facilitate their further development.

Lithium-Ion-Conducting Ceramics-Coated Separator for Stable Operation of Lithium Metal-Based Rechargeable Batteries

“…As the mass loading of the coating layer is less than 1 mg/cm 2 , the introduction of the coating layer has limited influence on the energy density of LOBs. Here, the LOB cells have a stacked configuration, and their electrolyte contains redox meditators [ 42 , 43 ]. The discharge/charge performance test was conducted at a current density of 0.4 mA/cm 2 , a capacity limit of 4.0 mAh/cm 2 , and cutoff voltages of 2.0 V/4.5 V. Figure 7 a shows the representative voltage profile of the LOB using the uncoated PE separator.…”

Criteria for evaluating lithium–air batteries in academia to correctly predict their practical performance in industry

“…Actually, several electrolyte injection techniques have been demonstrated for their effectiveness of improving the performance of LABs (ref. 38), such as the ''inkjet method'', which employs a piezoelectric element to emit nanoliter-scale electrolyte droplets, and the ''stamping method'', which uses two highly hydrophilic filters as electrolyte transfer agents allowing the uniformly spread electrolyte to be transferred to the carbon electrode sandwiched between them. The details of each electrolyte injection technique are summarized in Fig.…”

“…Actually, under the condition that the amount of electrolyte is strictly limited, a unique cell failure mechanism was reported (ref. 38), that is, a sudden increase in over-potential during the initial stage of the charging process (Fig. S3, ESI †).…”

Critical advances in re-engineering the cathode-electrolyte interface in alkali metal-oxygen batteries

“…Song et al [47] used a novel electrolyte filling technology to produce supercapacitors with high volumetric capacitance and energy density. The process of the new electrolyte filling technology was illustrated [Figure 4A], where the electrolyte precursor containing a photoinitiator was coated on the surface of the porous CNTs.…”

“…Reproduced from Ref. [47] with permission from Elsevier. (B) Schematic illustration of the stamping method [48] .…”