A Lithium–Air Battery Stably Working at High Temperature with High Rate Performance

Abstract

Driven by the increasing requirements for energy supply in both modern life and the automobile industry, the lithium-air battery serves as a promising candidate due to its high energy density. However, organic solvents in electrolytes are likely to rapidly vaporize and form flammable gases under increasing temperatures. In this case, serious safety problems may occur and cause great harm to people. Therefore, a kind of lithium-air that can work stably under high temperature is desirable. Herein, through the use of an ionic liquid and aligned carbon nanotubes, and a fiber shaped design, a new type of lithium-air battery that can effectively work at high temperatures up to 140 °C is developed. Ionic liquids can offer wide electrochemical windows and low vapor pressures, as well as provide high thermal stability for lithium-air batteries. The aligned carbon nanotubes have good electric and heat conductivity. Meanwhile, the fiber format can offer both flexibility and weavability, and realize rapid heat conduction and uniform heat distribution of the battery. In addition, the high temperature has also largely improved the specific powers by increasing the ionic conductivity and catalytic activity of the cathode. Consequently, the lithium-air battery can work stably at 140 °C with a high specific current of 10 A g for 380 cycles, indicating high stability and good rate performance at high temperatures. This work may provide an effective paradigm for the development of high-performance energy storage devices.

Critical Advances in Ambient Air Operation of Nonaqueous Rechargeable Li–Air Batteries

“…Ionic liquid (IL) is used as alternative electrolyte in ambient Li-air batteries because of its excellent non-volatility, high hydrophobicity against water, high thermal stability, broad electrochemical window, and chemical stability against O2radicals. [68,[172][173][174][175][176] Among them, the unique hydrophobicity of the IL plays an important role in the construction of stable discharge products at the interface between the cathode and the O2, enabling possible a Li-O2 battery for use in humid oxygen conditions. Zhou et al tested the water content of tetraglyme (G4) and ILbased electrolytes after being kept for 1, 2, 4, and 7 days in a humid atmosphere (RH=51%) (Figure 20).…”

Magnesium Storage Performance and Mechanism of 2D‐Ultrathin Nanosheet‐Assembled Spinel MgIn2S4 Cathode for High‐Temperature Mg Batteries

“…By the way, Mg 2+ diffusion can also be accelerated by increasing working temperature. Unfortunately, ordinary organic solvent electrolytes rapidly vaporize to form flammable gases with increasing temperature, leading to serious safety concerns . The poor safety limits the practical use of high temperature application fields, such as high‐temperature electronics devices, geothermal, and oil/gas borehole power sources …”

An Overview of Fiber‐Shaped Batteries with a Focus on Multifunctionality, Scalability, and Technical Difficulties

“…A polymer gel normally enables uniform coverage of the surface of electrodes along with improved interface contact to reduce the risks of leakage and short circuits, while ionic liquids are promising candidate materials for LABs due to their wide electrochemical windows and high thermal stability . To combine their advantages, Pan et al synthesized an ionic liquid gel electrolyte by mixing the ionic liquid LiTFSI and PVDF‐HFP. A coaxial fiber‐shaped LAB was then fabricated from an aligned CNT sheet and a lithium wire, which showed a wide electrochemical window of 1–5 V (vs Li/Li + ) at 2 mV s −1 and an impressive high‐temperature stability in that it could stably work even at 140 °C for 380 cycles at 10 A g −1 .…”