A lithium-air battery based on lithium oxide (Li
2
O) formation can theoretically deliver an energy density that is comparable to that of gasoline. Lithium oxide formation involves a four-electron reaction that is more difficult to achieve than the one- and two-electron reaction processes that result in lithium superoxide (LiO
2
) and lithium peroxide (Li
2
O
2
), respectively. By using a composite polymer electrolyte based on Li
10
GeP
2
S
12
nanoparticles embedded in a modified polyethylene oxide polymer matrix, we found that Li
2
O is the main product in a room temperature solid-state lithium-air battery. The battery is rechargeable for 1000 cycles with a low polarization gap and can operate at high rates. The four-electron reaction is enabled by a mixed ion–electron-conducting discharge product and its interface with air.
Nanostructured membrane structures have been fabricated by a combination of anodic aluminum oxidation (AAO) and atomic layer deposition (ALD) for use as platforms for the synthesis of highly uniform heterogeneous catalysts. The ALD method makes it possible to control pore diameters on the Angstrom scale even when the overall pore diameter is 10's to 100's of nanometers. AAO membranes imbedded in an aluminum sealing ring have been tested for flow properties and found to follow Knudsen diffusion behavior. Vanadia-coated membranes have been tested for the catalytic oxidative dehydrogenation of cyclohexane and show improved selectivity at the same conversion compared to conventional powdered alumina supported vanadia catalysts.
Salts of the donor molecule, bis(ethylenedithio)tetrathiafulvalene (BEDT-TTF or ET), with pentafluorothiomethylsulfonate (SF 5 CX 2 SO 3 -, X ) H or F) anions have been prepared. Three phases, β′′-(ET) 2 SF 5 CH 2 SO 3 , β′-(ET) 2 SF 5 CF 2 SO 3 , and β′′-(ET) 2 SF 5 CHFSO 3 were obtained by electrocrystallization with the corresponding LiSF 5 CX 2 SO 3 electrolytes. The structures of these salts were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, and their physical properties were examined by electrical resistivity measurements as well as by ESR and Raman spectroscopy. The β′′-(ET) 2 SF 5 CH 2 SO 3 , β′′-(ET) 2 SF 5 CHFSO 3 and β′-(ET) 2 SF 5 CF 2 SO 3 salts are considerably different in their crystal structures, physical properties, and electronic structures despite the similarity in the structures of the SF 5 CX 2 SO 3 -(X ) H, F) anions. The β′′-(ET) 2 SF 5 -CH 2 SO 3 salt has two kinds of ET donor molecules with considerably different charge densities. The electronic structure of β′′-(ET) 2 SF 5 CHFSO 3 has both one-dimensional (1D) and twodimensional (2D) Fermi surfaces which are similar to those found in the organic superconductor β′′-(ET) 2 SF 5 CH 2 CF 2 SO 3 . The ESR data for the β′-(ET) 2 SF 5 CF 2 SO 3 salt indicate that it opens a spin gap below 45 K. The differences in the physical properties of the three salts were analyzed by calculating the HOMO-HOMO interaction energies between nearestneighbor ET molecules in their donor molecule layers.
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