An ultrafast rechargeable aluminium-ion battery

Abstract

The development of new rechargeable battery systems could fuel various energy applications, from personal electronics to grid storage. Rechargeable aluminium-based batteries offer the possibilities of low cost and low flammability, together with three-electron-redox properties leading to high capacity. However, research efforts over the past 30 years have encountered numerous problems, such as cathode material disintegration, low cell discharge voltage (about 0.55 volts; ref. 5), capacitive behaviour without discharge voltage plateaus (1.1-0.2 volts or 1.8-0.8 volts) and insufficient cycle life (less than 100 cycles) with rapid capacity decay (by 26-85 per cent over 100 cycles). Here we present a rechargeable aluminium battery with high-rate capability that uses an aluminium metal anode and a three-dimensional graphitic-foam cathode. The battery operates through the electrochemical deposition and dissolution of aluminium at the anode, and intercalation/de-intercalation of chloroaluminate anions in the graphite, using a non-flammable ionic liquid electrolyte. The cell exhibits well-defined discharge voltage plateaus near 2 volts, a specific capacity of about 70 mA h g(-1) and a Coulombic efficiency of approximately 98 per cent. The cathode was found to enable fast anion diffusion and intercalation, affording charging times of around one minute with a current density of ~4,000 mA g(-1) (equivalent to ~3,000 W kg(-1)), and to withstand more than 7,500 cycles without capacity decay.

Supercapacitors: from the Leyden jar to electric busses

“…Asymmetric systems combining capacitive (or pseudocapacitive) electrodes with battery electrodes elsewhere found in secondary batteries can help in overcoming inherent limitations of the negative (lead) electrode in a lead acid accumulator [88,89] by replacing this electrode with a graphite-based capacitive electrode [90] 11 or can offer new approaches to high-rate systems by combining an aluminum electrode and a graphitic foam electrode in an ionic liquid as electrolyte [91]. Combination with a lithium-ion intercalation negative electrode has been called Li-ion supercapacitor [92].…”

Reading through breakthroughs

“…Take a much-discussed report 1 on the development of the aluminium-ion battery, for example. This battery makes use of an aluminium metal anode and a graphitic-foam cathode, both of which are inexpensive materials, and is shown to have an exceptionally high rate capability: it can be charged within one minute.…”

Preparation and characterization of a rechargeable battery based on poly-(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) and aluminum in ionic liquids

“…Rechargeable batteries based on the reversible deposition and dissolution of aluminum in a Lewis acidic chloroaluminate ionic liquid have been reported [14,18,19]. Charge storage materials like three-dimensional graphitic foams [18], vanadium pentoxide nano-wires [19], and electro-polymerized polypyrrole and polythiophene [14] in ionic liquid have been used as positive electrodes.…”

“…Charge storage materials like three-dimensional graphitic foams [18], vanadium pentoxide nano-wires [19], and electro-polymerized polypyrrole and polythiophene [14] in ionic liquid have been used as positive electrodes. The storage mechanism of these materials consists on the reversible intercalation of chloroaluminate ion species in the porous three-dimensional structures of the graphitic foam [18] and nano-wires [19], whereas conductive polymers [14] store anions to compensate the positive charges in the oxidized polymer backbone. These battery systems showed high reversibility as well as stable electrochemical behavior of the charge storage materials (graphitic foams, nano-wires, and conductive polymers) as positive electrodes with high coulombic efficiencies approaching 100%.…”

“…These battery systems showed high reversibility as well as stable electrochemical behavior of the charge storage materials (graphitic foams, nano-wires, and conductive polymers) as positive electrodes with high coulombic efficiencies approaching 100%. Cell voltages between 0.55 V [19] and 2 V [18] were reached with a wide electrochemical stability window [20], allowing the reversible redox reaction of aluminum (0 V vs Al/Al(III) [21]). The delivered specific discharge capacities are 70 Ah kg −1 (graphitic foam) [18], 273-305 Ah kg −1 (vanadium pentoxide nano-wires) [19], and 30-100 Ah kg −1 (conductive polymers) [14].…”