bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
(Invited) The Scale-up and Commercialization of a High Energy Density Na-Ion Battery Technology
Authors: Barker Jerry 
Published: February 2020

Na-ion batteries represent an attractive alternative to their Li-ion counterparts [1,2]. Faradion Limited, a UK-based startup, has developed this battery technology to a point where its performance characteristics, such as specific energy, rate and cycle life, are competitive with commercial Li-ion cells. In addition, the company has built an extensive patent portfolio [3]. Prototype Na-ion cells are manufactured on existing, commercial Li-ion production lines using readily available equipment and proven battery designs. Cylindrical, prismatic and pouch cells are all under development [4].
In this presentation we will demonstrate the performance characteristics of prototype Na-ion cells constructed using a proprietary layered oxide cathode NaaNi(1-x-y-z)MnxMgyTizO2 and a hard carbon anode material [5]. In this configuration the cathode material delivers a reversible specific capacity of over 150 mAh/g and the cell generates an average discharge cell voltage of around 3.2 V. The cell cycles with low polarization and with excellent charge and energy (round-trip) efficiency.
To demonstrate the commercial viability of Na-ion batteries, Faradion has worked with its commercial partners to scale-up its Na-ion cell chemistry to the 40 Wh and 80 Wh pouch cell level. These prototype cells deliver a specific energy of around 140 Wh/kg under full depth-of-discharge conditions and have been incorporated successfully into E-Bike, E-Scooter (>750 Wh) and other demonstrator applications [6,7]. These developments will encourage rapid penetration into new market opportunities.
Further performance, cost and safety characteristics of the Faradion Na-ion cells and batteries will be presented. Detailed 3-electrode cell performance data will also be discussed.
References:

J. Barker, M.Y. Saidi and J. Swoyer, Electrochem. Solid-State Chem. 6, A1, 2003.

V. Palomares, P. Serras, I. Villaluenga, K. B. Hueso, J. Carretero-Gonzalez and T. Rojo, Energy Environ. Sci. 5, 5884, 2012

For example, US Patents US#9761863, US#9608269, US#9917307, US#10050271.

A. Bauer, J. Song, S. Vail, W. Pan, J. Barker and Y. Lu, Adv. Energy Materials, 2018, 1702869; doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201702869

J. Barker and R.J. Heap, US Patent#9474035. Doped Nickelate Compounds, Filed November 2013

J. Barker and C. J. Wright. Presentation at the Advanced Automotive and Stationary/Industrial Battery Conference, AABC, Detroit, Michigan, USA, June 2015.

Chemical & Engineering News, July 20, 2015, Vol. 93, Issue 29, pp 18-19.
(Invited) Improvements in High Energy Density Silver-Zinc Button Cells for Wearable Devices
Authors: Wei Xia , Ortega Jeffrey Vincent 
Published: February 2020

The silver (Ag)-zinc (Zn) system has the highest theoretical specific (Wh/kg) and volumetric energy density (Wh/L) amongst all rechargeable batteries with the added benefit of safety and non-flammability compared to lithium-ion or lithium metal batteries, which makes it a good and ideal candidate for portable applications like hearing-aids. However, historically, the Ag-Zn battery has suffered from poor rechargeability and low energy utilization. At ZPower, we have tailored the chemistry and engineered a new Ag-Zn battery system, which is highly energy dense and rechargeable, thus making it possible to use it portable applications and giving more power to the consumer to allow them to contribute to a greener future.
As aforementioned, enhancing the capacity of the active materials is paramount for high energy density, which we achieved by developing proprietary additives and methods. For the cathode, silver oxide (AgO) was used in our system. We developed novel proprietary conductive coatings for AgO, which allowed high capacity utilization and retention for many cycles. We conducted gassing tests, where we found the coatings considerably reduced oxygen generation. The role of these coatings was further studied through charge algorithm cycling, where we found that it reduced AgO cathode’s impedance compared to the control tests and maintained its active surface area. More importantly, we found that the morphology of the proprietary conductive coatings played a crucial role in efficiently utilizing the AgO cathode’s capacity.
For the anode, Zn was used, where it has a theoretical specific capacity of 820 mAh/g; however, Zn has a long history of poor rechargeability due to problems like shape change (zinc redistribution), dendrite formation and passivation. In the past, previous researchers tried altering the Zn formulation to increase utilization; however, these attempts were not fruitful. We have engineered a new Zn anode that can access 94% of its theoretical capacity in a single primary discharge and 56% of its theoretical capacity rechargeably for over 300 cycles. We achieved this breakthrough by developing proprietary additives and methods that localize the Zn to the current collector and prevent dendrite formation. We will comment on the anode performance further in the talk.
Finally, we will present impedance models and data of the ZPower Ag-Zn system measured with respect to state of charge, storage time and temperature, which is vital from a manufacturing standpoint to understand cell properties and make future cell and electrode improvements. We will comment on our future work of identifying impedance contribution from the cathode and anode components of the battery and using this data as a guideline for improving electrode composition and cell performance.
Electrolyte Design for Self-Forming and Self-Healing SEI Layer for Li Metal Anodes
Authors: Pande Vikram , Viswanathan Venkatasubramanian 
Published: February 2020

The driving range and cost of electric vehicles is severely limited by the energy density of the state of art Li-ion batteries. The energy density of Li-ion batteries can be improved by replacing graphite anodes with lithium metal anode. The US Department of Energy targets for lithium metal batteries are cost < 100 $/kWh, gravimetric energy density > 500 Wh/kg, volumetric density > 800 Wh/L and have a charging time of 15 min. Lithium metal anodes suffer from dendrite/mossy formation and low cycling efficiency. It has been shown that forming stable SEI layers on top of lithium metal anodes can stop dendrite formation.[i],[ii] Electrolyte components play a crucial role in formation of stable SEI and also the SEI morphology, as the SEI components primarily comprise of decomposition products of the solvent, the salt and the additives in the electrolyte.
In this work, we will discuss a new approach of forming a stable SEI layer with sufficient ionic conductivity and mechanical strength to suppress dendrites . The battery under cycling conditions will unavoidably form cracks in the SEI layer. Our approach is to provide a persistent source for self-healing of these cracks formed in the self-formed SEI during battery cycling. This is achieved by choosing appropriate solvents, salt anions and additives in the battery, which will form the same SEI layer during a forming step and during cycling of the battery. Using the appropriate solvent, salt and additives in the desired proportion leads to a spontaneously formed SEI layer comprised of specific components such as LiF, LiOH, Li2O, Li2CO3, Li2SO3, Li2S. The design principles associated with the selection of the electrolyte additives and salt components will be discussed. The effectiveness of the different SEI components will also be compared. We will quantify the amount of electrolyte components required for self-healing during entire cycle life. An important consideration is that the dissolved species in the electrolyte should also be stable to against high voltage Li-ion battery cathodes. Thus the high voltage stability of the electrolytes will also be shown. We will also explore the ion conduction pathways in SEI through the interfaces formed by the different SEI components. We will also discuss formation of stable SEI in the context of thin lithium foils (< 20 mm) and anode free batteries. Lastly the effect of the current collector in the context of anode free batteries will be discussed.
[i] Xin-Bing Cheng, Rui Zhang, Chen-Zi Zhao, and Qiang Zhang. Toward safe lithium metal anode in rechargeable batteries: a review. Chemical reviews, 117(15):10403–10473, 2017.
[ii] Dingchang Lin, Yayuan Liu, and Yi Cui. Reviving the lithium metal anode for high-energy batteries. Nature nanotechnology, 12(3):194, 2017.
Micro Vs. Nano: Impact of Particle Size on the Processing of Si Anode Slurries
Authors: Mindemark Jonas , Andersson Rassmus 
Published: February 2020

In the quest for ever greater storage capacity to satisfy the increasing demand for high-energy-density storage in electric vehicles and large-scale grid storage, anodes comprising Si have the promise of significantly increasing the energy density of Li-ion batteries [1]. Either as a stand-alone active material or as a minor component in a more traditional graphite matrix, Si can through alloying incorporate far more Li than can be intercalated in graphite [1]. This, however, comes at significant volume expansion of the Si particles, resulting in cracking and disintegrating during repeated cycling [2]. This can be counteracted by using nm-sized Si particles which minimizes the impact of severe volume changes during cycling [2].
We have been studying the processing of environmentally benign water-based slurries for Si-containing anodes and note that the Si particle size not only affects the cycling performance, but also significantly affect the processing characteristics. Notably, the rheological properties, i.e., the shear stress and apparent viscosity at the shear rate of electrode coating and the viscoelastic properties, are all determined by the Si particles – even when these are only present as a minor component in a graphite matrix. Whereas µm-sized Si particles result in low-viscosity slurries that are characterized by liquid-like behavior, the slurries containing nm-sized Si particles show both higher viscosity and notable viscoelasticity. These differences are most pronounced at low shear rates, which in the context of electrode processing will affect how the slurry will either flow under its own weight or retain its overall geometry between application and drying. These vastly differing properties appear to be related to the surface area of the Si particles within the slurry, where the polar surface groups of the native oxide on the particles interact strongly with the surrounding water, leading to the observed differences in rheological behavior.

Thackeray MM, Wolverton C, Isaacs ED. Energy Environ. Sci. 2012; 5: 7854

Casimir A, Zhang H, Ogoke O, et al. Nano Energy 2016; 27: 359–376
Electrolyte Additives for Mg Stripping Reaction in Lithium-Magnesium Hybrid Batteries
Authors: Kim Haebeen , Kim Duri , Ryu Ji Heon 
Published: February 2020

Rechargeable magnesium batteries have the advantages of low cost and high theoretical capacity without dendrite formation. However, the Mg batteries have critical problem of sluggish kinetic by the slow solid-state diffusion of highly polarizing divalent Mg-ions in most intercalation hosts. This problem can be overcome by hybrid batteries combining a Mg-metal negative electrode and fast lithium intercalation hosts when the Li+ ions are used with Mg2+ ions. Although two kinds of cations exist in the electrolyte, the Li ions can be easily intercalated into the host positive electrode materials and the Mg ion can be electroplated and stripped at the negative electrode because of its relatively higher standard reduction potential. However, the Mg metal electrode still have problem of the formation of the blocking layer between the magnesium metal surface and electrolyte. In case of using the Mg(TFSI)2 and glyme-based electrolyte, the huge overpotential occurs in the Mg stripping reaction during discharging process. We found that the electrolyte additives containing the halogen anion such as Cl- and Br- reduced the overpotential of the Mg stripping reaction.
The Li4Ti5O12 (LTO) and mechanically polished Mg disk were used the electrode materials and the 1.50 M LiTFSI and 0.15 M Mg(TFSI)2 in glyme:diglyme=1:1 solution (standard electrolyte) was used as dual salt electrolyte. This cell showed a negative discharging voltage (about -1.0 V) due to the huge Mg stripping overpotential while the charging reaction occurs at 0.8 V. After the addition of 0.1 M LiCl, 0.1 M LiBr, or 0.5 M MgCl2, the discharging voltage increased to +0.5 V from the 2nd cycle after activation process during 1st cycle while the charging voltage was almost close to the halogen-free electrolyte. In spite of the increase of the halogen anion concentration, the further improvement was not detected.
When the HMDS (hexamethyldisilazane) was added to the electrolyte with the LiCl, the overpotential of Mg stripping reaction was sharply decreased from the first cycle without activation process. But the overpotential did not decrease in case of the HMDS addition to the standard electrolyte composition (halogen-free).
Therefore, the Mg/LTO hybrid cell with dual salt electrolyte containing halogen anion and HMDS showed good electrochemical performances with low polarization from the initial cycle.
Solution-Based Synthesis of Li3PS4 Solid Electrolytes
Authors: Lim Hee-Dae , Xing Xing , Liu Ping 
Published: February 2020

Sulfide-based solid electrolytes have attracted much attention due to their high conductivities, which are far beyond those of oxide-based solid electrolytes.[1,2] However, They (Li2S-P2S5 system, i.e., LPS) have been normally synthesized by solid state synthesis such as mechanical ball milling. These methods require rigorous control of reaction environment as well as high temperature heat treatment and repeated pelletizing steps. In contrast, solution-based synthesis methods can induce chemical reaction among precursor particles (Li2S and P2S5) at low temperatures resulting in the formation of conductive phases of β-Li3PS4 and Li3P7S11 with only moderate thermal treatment.[3,4] The method deserves great attention since it simplifies synthesis process, yields products of great purity, and may facilitate the fabrication of composite electrodes with improved interfaces.
In this work, we have developed an efficient method to form a thin solid electrolyte layer directly on Li metal using the liquid coating techniques. The formation of LPS (Li2S-P2S5) based electrolyte is achieved by rational design of the solvent and the Li, P, and S precursor ratios. The solution electrolyte can be directly coated and formed on Li metal through the in-situ formation of the solid electrolyte layer, which does not require the complex synthesis process and high temperature sintering step. Layers of thickness of < 50 mm can be fabricated and electrochemical cycling of lithium is achieved. This liquid-phase coating is a simple and straightforward technique for making a thin solid electrolyte and can be applicable to anode surface with complex contours. The new liquid coating technique holds the promise to overcome the limitations of current state solid electrolytes.
[1] Kamaya, N. et al. A lithium superionic conductor. Nature Mater. 10, 682-686 (2011).
[2] Yamane, H. et al. Crystal structure of a superionic conductor, Li7P3S11. Solid State Ion. 178, 1163-1167 (2007).
[3] Ito, S. et al. A synthesis of crystalline Li7P3S11 solid electrolyte from 1,2-dimethoxyethane solvent. J. Power Sources 271, 342-345 (2014).
[4] Liu, Z. et al. Anomalous High Ionic Conductivity of Nanoporous β-Li3PS4. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 135, 975-978 (2013).
Understanding the Role of Lithium Ions and Electron Transport in a Multi-Electrode System Designed for Lithium-Oxygen Batteries
Authors: Tamakloe Wilson , Adjei Agyeman Daniel , Park Mihui , Kang Yong-Mook 
Published: February 2020

The formation and decomposition of the discharge products (Li2O2) during the charging and discharging processes in Li-oxygen batteries are the main reactions that drive this technology, initiated at a solid-liquid-gas phase boundary involving Li+, O2 and e- in the cathode compartment. However the mechanistic contribution of each of these component to the electrochemical reactions in a given cell remains unknown.
In this study, we seek to understand the role of Li+ and e- at the phase boundary by developing a dual-cathode system containing a lithium conducting electrode(Li3N) and an electron conducting electrode(LiI) separated by nickel mesh. It was observed that, the LiI has the tendency to form reduced oxygens on the electrode surface via I-/I3
- redox couple, while Li-ions migrate to the electrode surface by the Li-ion conductive effect of the Li3N in the reactions leading to the discharge product formation. The discharge products on the Li3N electrode were found to be oxygen-rich, while those on the LiI electrode surface were found to be oxygen-deficient.
Electrochemical analyses revealed that the cells could discharge up to a capacity of 3.74mAh/cm2 at a current density of 0.1mA/cm2 with an over potential of 0.59V upon charging. At the same current density the cells were able to discharge-charge up to 184 cycles at a cut-off capacity of 0.2mAh/cm2.
Degradation Phenomena in Silicon-Carbon Composite Anodes from Industrial Battery Grade Silicon
Authors: Ulvestad Asbjørn , Foss Carl Erik Lie , Andersen Hanne Flåten , Vullum Per Erik , Voje Jorunn , Maehlen Jan Petter 
Published: February 2020

Graphitic carbon is the anode of choice in lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries due to its low cost, availability and cyclability. However, silicon is emerging as a promising candidate to replace/complement conventionally used anodes with a potential to store ten times more lithium (3579 mAh/g) compared to graphitic carbons (372 mAh/g) [1]. But, as is often the case, great performance in one parameter comes with great costs in other parameters. The large lithiation capacity of silicon comes with extreme volume change during lithiation and delithiation, which severely impacts the materials cyclability. Typical mitigation methods for this involve using nanostructured silicon [2-3] , optimisation of binders [4] and adding appropriate SEI forming electrolyte additives [5].
Silicon as anode material has now grown to a mature field, and many degradation phenomena has been explored in detail, in particular on nanostructured silicon using powerful in-situ TEM studies [6]. For current Li-ion batteries, improvement of the anode capacity beyond approximately 1200 mAh/g has negligible impact on the overall capacity cell. Thus, composite anodes containing both silicon and a conventional anode material such as graphite, are sufficient for most batteries. While degradation mechanisms of pure nano-silicon structures have been studied in detail, similar phenomena specific to composite silicon-carbon electrodes have not. In our work we have performed post-mortem FIB-SEM and TEM studies to investigate degradation occurring over a large number of cycles, examining the effect and interplay between the graphite and the silicon in composite anodes. In this work, we have explored different degradation phenomena observed in silicon-carbon composite, including electrode thickening, silicon migration, electrochemical sintering, dendritic surface formation, inhomogeneous lithiation and dependence of electrode thickness on lithiation level. Electrochemical performance of silicon-carbon composite and graphitic carbons have also been studied for comparison.
The composite silicon-carbon and graphite anodes are based on industrial battery grade silicon and carbon produced at Elkem, a world leading company for environment-friendly production of silicon and carbon. The electrochemical performance was cycled in half cells where the working electrode was made by mixing a silicon-carbon composite /graphitic carbon powder with an organic binder in an aqueous slurry and coated on a dendritic Cu-foil. Structural properties and degradation mechanisms were examined by electron microscopy (SEM, FIB-SEM, TEM) and XRD. Support for this work was provided through the ENERGIX program of the Research Council of Norway.
Effect of Ti-Mesh Interlayer on the Negative Electrode for Zinc-Bromine Flow Batteries
Authors: Lee Je-Nam , Do Eunbyul , Kim Youngkwon 
Published: February 2020

Redox flow batteries (RFBs) are regarded as one of the most attractive systems for large-scale electrochemical energy storage because of simple design, good scalability, and good cycle efficiency. Among various flow batteries, zinc-bromine flow battery (ZBB) has a lot of benefits due to the high solubility of Zn, which enables high practical energy density of around 65~75 Wh/kg. Additionally, low cost which comes from the abundance of zinc compounds has thrown light on the popularization of ZBB. Until now, however, widespread application of ZBB has not been realized due ot its drawback.
Zinc dendrite growth has negative effect on Zn/Br performance because of membrane damage, which allows self-discharge. Therefore, to get rid of dendrite formation after prolonged cycling, zinc dendrite strip cycling should run in the process of cycling.
In this work, we introduced Ti-mesh interlayer on the negative electrode to suppress the formation of zinc dendrite. We compared the effect of mesh interlayer using strip cycling during cycling.