Special Issue to Prof. Doron Aurbach,celebrating his 70th birthday

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry -     

This electrode is best served cold—a reversible electrochemical lithiation of a gray cubic tin

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - The behavior of a cubic allotropic modification of tin (α-Sn) towards lithium electrochemical alloying/de-alloying is reported for the first time. The...     

New Editor-in-Chief,J. Solid State Electrochemistry

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry -     

A critical review-promises and barriers of conversion electrodes for Li-ion batteries

Conversion-type electrode materials are discussed in this critical review. Most of the conversion materials are significantly less expensive than modern intercalation-type materials, and the materials involved are appreciably abundant in the nature. However, up to now, no practically viable battery with conversion material-based electrodes was reported, as there are several major barriers to a practical employment of these materials. First, material utilization and cell energy performance are seriously compromised by a low conductivity of the most conversion materials and by a substantial electrolyte involvement in the electrochemical process. Second, the conversion reactions usually demonstrate a severe volume effect, and also conversion electrodes interact with electrolyte developing thick and resistant solid electrolyte interphase films; both of these features result in impractically low electrode cyclability. Third, a large lithiation/de-lithiation voltage hysteresis results in impractically low charge/discharge energy efficiency and suggests a severe battery heating in the course of the battery operation. All these problems present serious challenges for the researchers in the field; the approaches for handling these issues are discussed in the review. For the foreseeable future, there are grounds to expect progress in tackling some of these issues. The issue of high voltage hysteresis is a bottleneck, though, and it actually precludes conversion materials from any practical application.     

Recent development in the field of ceramics solid-state electrolytes: I—oxide ceramic solid-state electrolytes

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - Many elements in the periodic table form ionic compounds; the crystal lattices of such compounds contain cations and anions, which are arranged in the way...     

Enhanced copper surface protection in aqueous solutions containing short-chain alkanoic acid potassium salts

The ability of dissolved potassium monocarboxylate salts to produce surface passivation and to inhibit aqueous corrosion of copper was studied. The electrochemical measurements indicate that the inhibiting efficiency of these compounds, with a general formula Cn-1H2n-1COOK or CnK (n=3...12), is dependent on the hydrocarbon chain length. The inhibiting efficiency was higher for a longer hydrocarbon chain of n-alkanoic acid. The degree of copper protection was found to increase with an increase in n-alkanoic acid potassium salt concentration; the optimum concentration of potassium dodecanoate (C12K) in sulfate solutions was found to be 0.07 M. The protective layers formed at the copper surface subsequent to exposure in various n-alkanoic acid potassium salt solutions were characterized by contact angle measurements, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared reflection spectroscopy. Pronounced copper protection was attributed to the growth of a protective film on the copper surface, containing both copper oxides and copper carboxylate compounds. It is suggested that the organic molecules enhance copper protection by covering copper oxides with a thin and dense organic layer, which prevents water molecules or aggressive anions from interacting with the copper surface.     

The use of S,S-dialkyl dithiocarbonates in Li ion battery electrolytes

S,S-dialkyl dithiocarbonates such as S,S-dimethyl dithiocarbonate and S,S-diethyl dithiocarbonate were tested as solvents for rechargeable lithium ion batteries. Graphite electrodes can be successfully cycled at high reversible capacities in an S,S-dimethyl dithiocarbonate solution containing 1 M LiAsF₆, while lithium ions cannot intercalate into graphite in S,S-diethyl dithiocarbonate solutions. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry and chronopotentiometric methods were used in order to monitor the reaction mechanism. Received: 23 April 1997 / Accepted: 5 June 1997     

Enhanced zinc corrosion mitigation via a tuned thermal pretreatment in an alkaline solution containing an organic inhibitor

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - A short-term exposure of zinc (Zn) electrodes in polyethylene glycol (PEG) containing alkaline electrolytes at a temperature range of...     

Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) of Alumina over Activated Carbon Electrodes Enabling a Stable 4 V Supercapacitor Operation

Designing high voltage (>3 V) and stable electrochemical supercapacitors with low self-discharge is desirable for the applications in modern electronic devices. This work demonstrates a 4 V symmetric supercapacitor with stabilized cycling performance through atomic layer deposition (ALD) of alumina (Al₂O₃) on the surface of activated carbon (AC). The 20-cycle ALD Al₂O₃ coated AC delivers 84 % capacitance retention after 1000 charge/discharge cycles under 4 V, contrary to the bare AC cells having only 48 % retention. The extended cycling life is associated with the thickened Stern layer and suppressed oxygen functional group. The self-discharge data also show that the Al₂O₃ coating enables AC cells to maintain 53 % of charge retention after 12 h, which is more than twice higher than that of bare AC cells under the same test protocol of 4 V charging. The curve fitting analysis reveals that ALD coating induced slow self-discharge dominated by ion diffusion mechanism, thus enhancing the AC surface energy.     

Unveiling ionic diffusion in MgNiMnO4 cathode material for Mg-ion batteries via combined computational and experimental studies

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - A major challenge in the field of rechargeable Mg batteries is the development of high voltage/high capacity cathode materials. Naturally, a first step in...