Li-Ion and Na-Ion Intercalation in Layered MnO2 Cathodes Enabled by Using Bismuth as a Cation Pillar
Authors: Gallaway Joshua W , Zimmerer Eric , Lambert Timothy N. , Schorr Noah B. 
Published: September 2023

Rechargeability of low-cost MnO2 cathodes in aqueous cells has the potential to be an enabling technology for low-cost (<$50/kWh) grid-scale batteries. This rechargeability is imparted by modifying the MnO2 with Bi. In this talk we detail using Bi doping for structural stabilization of MnO2 cathodes for Li-ion and Na-ion batteries in dry, non-aqueous electrolyte. We do this by preparing a series of Bi-doped layered MnO2 compounds, which also contain K ions and crystal water. These phyllomanganates or birnessite-type compounds have the general formula KxBiy-MnO2 • nH2O. The materials are structurally characterized by synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction (XPD) and confocal Raman microscopy. It is found that incorporation of Bi in the structure increases the crystallinity of the material by ordering the interlayer cations. This ordering results in the emergence of a structural superlattice in the material, which has been reported previously for birnessite inserted with other heavy, multivalent cations such as as Sr2+, Ba2+, and Ca2+.

We selected three Bi doping levels to study in Li-ion and Na-ion batteries: undoped (y = 0), low-doping (y = 0.013 or 1.3%), and high doping (y = 0.043 or 4.3%). Both doped materials had capacity over 200 mAh/g and allowed for far more stable cell cycling than the undoped Kx-MnO2. The cells made with 4.3% doping of Bi were by far more stable. These cycled at 175-190 mAh/g specific capacity through 100 cycles with a nominal voltage of 2.9 V. Operando XRD experiments to characterize the cathodes within sealed coin cells showed that high-level doping (4.3%) promoted dehydration of the KxBiy-MnO2 interlayer, which had a distance of 6.4 Å. This showed that loss of the crystal water from the interlayer was key to achieving maximum stability during cycling. Lower Bi doping (1.3%) did not cause loss of the crystal water once the cathode was wetted with electrolyte. Previous reports have suggested that Bi doping of 20% results in stabilized Li-ion cycling in layered MnO2. However, these reports involved largely amorphous active material. Our results showed that Bi doping of only 1.3% still provided a large stability benefit, and the high crystallinity of our material allowed it to be structurally characterized, both in the as-prepared state and operando during battery cycling. Results from Na-ion cells will also be presented.

Stabilized MnO2-based cathodes that cycle with good capacity and somewhat lower cell voltage than traditional Li-ion cells are a promising strategy for low-cost batteries for the grid. The possibility of using Na as the working ion is also useful for large-scale deployment of batteries to balance renewable power.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Dr. Imre Gyuk, Energy Storage Program Manager. This research used resources of the Advanced Photon Source beamline 6-BM, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. This research also used resources at beamlines 7-BM (QAS) and 28-ID-2 (XPD) of the National Synchrotron Light Source II, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Brookhaven National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-SC0012704.