Electrochemical Intercalation of Lithium into Intermetallic Bismuth Compounds with Indium in Nonaqueous Solutions

Phase conversions and kinetics of electrochemical intercalation of lithium from dimethylformamide solutions of LiCl into bulk electrodes of bismuth, indium and their intermetallic compounds InBi and In₂Bi are studied using chronopotentiometry and chronoamperometry methods. The intercalation is controlled by non-steady-state lithium diffusion in the solid electrode. In the lithium–intermetallic compound systems, both components of alloys take part in the formation of compounds with lithium. Considerable volume changes, which occur during the intercalation, may lead to disintegration of lithium-containing phase constituents with a high lithium content. The extremum shape of cathodic chronoamperograms may be due successive and/or parallel reactions in which various lithium-containing compounds form. Some of these reactions are limited by solid-phase diffusion, while others involve the formation and diffusion-controlled growth of three-dimensional nuclei of a new phase.     

Phase transformations during electrochemical incorporation of lithium in intermetallic compounds of aluminum

Comparative study of the regularities of the reaction and specific features of phase formation during electrochemical incorporation of lithium from propylene carbonate solutions in intermetallic aluminum-based compounds (CuAl₂, Mg₂Al₃, and NiAl) and pure metals (Al, Cu, Mg, and Ni) was performed. The initial stage of the process was shown to be dissolution of lithium in the solid phase limited by diffusion for all studied substrates. Trace amounts of lithium-containing by-products, were detected in NiAl, Ni, and Cu samples. The subsequent change in the limiting stage is related to the beginning of formation of a new phase: metallic lithium (on Mg₂Al₃, NiAl, Mg, Ni, and Cu) or LiAl (on Al and CuAl₂ cathodes). In the latter case, the solid-phase substitution occurs, which is formally described by the equation: CuAl₂+2Li⁺+2e→2LiAl+Cu. Thus, the specific features of phase formation on the CuAl₂ electrode correspond to the highest (among three intermetallides studied) concentration of Al atoms in the crystal lattice of the compound. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 8. pp. 1525–1530, August, 1998.     

Alloy formation processes at electrochemical intercalation of lithium into intermetallic compounds of magnesium with zinc

A comparative study of alloy formation processes that occur during the electrochemical intercalation of lithium from lithium chloride solutions in dimethylformamide into intermetallic compounds of magnesium with zinc (MgZn₂, Mg₂Zn₃) and the corresponding individual metals is studied by chronopotentiometric and voltammetric methods. Lithium-containing phases are formed in all samples studied; moreover, for MgZn₂ and Mg₂Zn₃ electrodes, the phases formed are preferentially in the Li-Zn system. The largest number of lithium-containing phases is formed in zinc. It is shown that the electrochemical behavior of intermetallic electrodes is associated with their nature, where a single alloy component plays the key role, namely, zinc for MgZn₂ and magnesium for Mg₂Zn₃. The cathodic intercalation of lithium into MgZn₂ is characterized by anomalously low polarizability as compared with the other electrodes. The lithium extraction coefficient K _ex ^Li increases from the first to the tenth cycle for all electrode studied. The highest K _ex ^Li are typical of Zn and the lowest are typical of Mg₂Zn₃.     

Studying the Initial Stage of Nucleation and Growth of a New Phase during Cathodic Intercalation of Lithium into Aluminum

Kinetics of cathodic intercalation of lithium into aluminum from a 0.5 M LiCl solution in dimethylformamide at the stage of nucleation and growth of intermetallic compound -LiAl is studied by one- and two-pulse potentiostatic methods. If the length of the first potential pulse is short, the current at the beginning of the second pulse is proportional to the overvoltage squared. The experimental data point to a lamellar-spiral growth of -LiAl crystals at the initial stage of their development and to a change in the balance between different growth mechanisms as a function of the overvoltage and surface coverage by -LiAl.     

Phase Formation and Kinetics of Electrochemical Intercalation of Lithium into Intermetallic Compounds MgCd and MgCd3

Electrochemical intercalation of lithium into intermetallic compounds (IMC) MgCd and MgCd₃ out of propylene carbonate solutions of LiBF₄ is studied. According to chronopotentiometry data, during the intercalation, lithium forms compounds with cadmium: Li₃Cd on MgCd or LiCd and Li₃Cd on MgCd₃. Reactions of solid-phase substitution, which occur on the electrodes, are accompanied by the destruction of initial IMC and generation of magnesium atoms. Chronoamperometry of MgCd–(Li) and MgCd₃–(Li) shows the lithium intercalation to be limited by nonstationary diffusion of lithium in the solid phase. The lithium diffusion in MgCd is slower and that in MgCd₃is faster than in Cd. The calculated potential dependences of the diffusion coefficient for lithium in MgCd and MgCd₃ are linear in semilogarithmic coordinates.