Aluminum-based materials for advanced battery systems

Abstract

There has been increasing interest in developing micro/nanostructured aluminum-based materials for sustainable, dependable and high-efficiency electrochemical energy storage. This review chiefly discusses the aluminum-based electrode materials mainly including Al2O3, AlF3, AlPO4, Al(OH)3, as well as the composites (carbons, silicons, metals and transition metal oxides) for lithium-ion batteries, the development of aluminum-ion batteries, and nickel-metal hydride alkaline secondary batteries, which summarizes the methodologies, related charge-storage mechanisms, the relationship between nanostructures and electrochemical properties found in recent years, latest research achievements and their potential applications. In addition, we raise the relevant challenges in recently developed electrode materials and put forward new ideas for further development of micro/nanostructured aluminum-based materials in advanced battery systems.

Biobased polymer cathodes with enhanced charge storage

“…While the PPy-DA 1 voltammogram in the beginning resembles the one of pure polypyrrole (Figure S13 in the Supplementary Information), a characteristic broad peak around 3.0 V to 3.5 V vs. Li + /Li evolves after few cycles. Intensity of the peak region increases with prolonged cycling which makes sense given that during the redox reaction lithium phenolate is reversibly formed, and Li + cations as well as bulky PF 6 anions and sulfate dopant move in and out of the electrode material, so structures need to rearrange for establishment of full charge storage. Hydroquinone functionalities, which are initially supposed to be present to some extent in polydopamine, [16] additionally first need to be deprotonated, and resulting reaction products need to be removed, e.g., by forming an SEI layer on the lithium anode.…”

“…All of this inherently implies ecological and social concerns. [1,2] More sustainable batteries have been investigated [3] which include non-lithium technologies like batteries based on sodium, [4] magnesium, [5] aluminum [6], or organic species [7] on the anode side as well as sulfur-, [8] air-, [9] and organic systems on the cathode side. [10] Organic cathode systems have the advantage that they replace the critical cobalt completely.…”

High Performance and Long‐cycle Life Rechargeable Aluminum Ion Battery: Recent Progress, Perspectives and Challenges

“…In contrast, two electrons in Mg-ion, Ca-ion, Zn-ion and three electrons in Al-ion are involved in redox processes for each cation, leading to higher specific capacity and energy density. [41][42][43] In addition to being the only trivalent working ion in secondary batteries, Al is the third most abundant element and the foremost abundant metal, and possesses ultrahigh theoretical specific capacity (volumetric: 8040 mAh cm À 3 , gravimetric: 2980 mAh g À 1 ), [12,[44][45][46] low electrochemical equivalent (0.336 gA h À 1 ), and a strong negative redox potential of 1.676 V against the standard hydrogen electrode (SHE), making it a promising material for rechargeable batteries for post-LIBs energy storage technology. [47,48] Furthermore, unlike Li metal, Al metal is intrinsically safe due to its air stability by a naturally formed thin oxide layer that is stable over a pH range of about 4.0-8.6, easing storage and transportation.…”

Gel Polymer Electrolyte for Aluminum-Ion Batteries

“…Rechargeable aluminum-ion batteries began their development in the 70s together with lithium batteries, while their stage of developing was not carried out due to the lack of a highly efficient electrolyte for the aluminum deposition until the use of first-generation ionic liquids in the 2000s and began the study of cathode materials such as metallic oxides, transition metal hexacyanoferrate, conductive polymers, metallic sulfides and derivatives of graphite, the devices achieved specific capacities in the order of 30 to 100 mAhg -1 and life cycles that differ according to the mechanical stability of the active material during the cycling process (1,3,4); however, the devices presented problems associated with the high sensitivity to the environment and corrosivity of the electrolyte; therefore, the search for new electrolytes proceeded, such as halide-free ionic liquids (5-7), deep eutectic ionic liquids (with amides and glymes) (8-10) and polymers based on the latter (4,5,9,(11)(12)(13). Additionally, since 2018, researches focused on changing the anodic material were found, similar to the approach developed in lithium-ion batteries (14)(15)(16)(17).…”