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Biomass has the potential to become an important source of energy for future automotive fuels. Recent biological and chemical improvements to the conversion of biomass-derived carbohydrates have produced high yields of liquid 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF). This discovery has made DMF a possible substitute for petroleum-based gasoline, because they share very similar physicochemical properties, which are superior to those of ethanol. In the present study, experiments have been carried out on a single-cylinder gasoline direct-injection (GDI) research engine to study the performance of DMF benchmarked against gasoline and what is considered to be the current biofuel leader, ethanol. Initial results are very promising for DMF as a new biofuel; not only is the combustion performance similar to commercial gasoline, but the regulated emissions are also comparable.

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To improve the solid-electrolyte/electrode interface compatibility, we have proposed the concept of hybrid electrolyte by including a small amount of liquid electrolyte in between. In this work, n-BuLi, a superbase, has been found to significantly improve the cycling performance of LiFePO/Li hybrid cells containing LiLaZrTaO (LLZT) and conventional carbonate-based liquid electrolyte. The modified cells have been cycled for 400 cycles at 100 and 200 μA cm at room temperature, indicating excellent solid/liquid electrolyte interface stability. The role of n-BuLi may be 3-fold: to retard the decomposition reaction of LE, to suppress the Li/H exchange, and to lithiate the garnet/LE interface, inhibiting side reactions and enhancing interfacial lithium-ion transport.

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