Enhanced ionic conductivity in LAGP/LATP composite electrolyte

Nasicon materials(sodium superionic conductors) such as Li_(1.5)Al_(0.5)Ge_(1.5)(PO_4)_3(LAGP) and Li_(1.4)Al_(0.4)Ti_(1.6)(PO_4)_3(LATP) have been considered as important solid electrolytes due to their high ionic conductivity and chemical stability.Compared to LAGP, LATP has higher bulk conductivity around 10~(-3) S/cm at room temperature; however, the apparent grain boundary conductivity is almost two orders of magnitude lower than the bulk, while LAGP has similar bulk and grain boundary conductivity around the order of 10~(-4) S/cm. To make full use of the advantages of the two electrolytes, pure phase Li_(1.5)Al_(0.5)Ge_(1.5)(PO_4)_3 and Li_(1.4)Al_(0.4)Ti_(1.6)(PO_4)_3 were synthesized through solid state reaction, a series of composite electrolytes consisting of LAGP and LATP with different weight ratios were designed. XRD and variable temperature AC impedance spectra were carried out to clarify the crystal structure and the ion transport properties of the composite electrolytes. The results indicate that the composite electrolyte with the LATP/LAGP weight ratio of 80:20 achieved the highest bulk conductivity which shall be due to the formation of solid solution phase Li1.42 Al0.42 Ge0.3 Ti1.28(PO4)3, while the highest grain boundary conductivity appeared at the LATP/LAGP weight ratio of 20:80 which may be due to the excellent interfacial phase between Li_(1+x)Al_xGe_yTi_(2-x-y)(PO_4)_3/LATP. All the composite electrolytes demonstrated higher total conductivity than the pure LAGP and LATP, which highlights the importance of heterogeneous interface on regulating the ion transport properties.     

A high-performance rechargeable Li–O_2 battery with quasi-solid-state electrolyte

A novel transparent and soft quasi-solid-state electrolyte(QSSE) was proposed and fabricated, which consists of ionic liquid(PYR_(14)TFSI) and nano-fumed silica. The QSSE demonstrates high ionic conductivity of 4.6×10~(-4) S/cm at room temperature and wide electrochemical stability window of over 5 V. The Li–O_2 battery using such quasi-solidstate electrolyte exhibits a low charge-discharge overpotential at the first cycle and excellent long-term cyclability over 500 cycles.     

Gas treatment protection of metallic lithium anode

The effects of different coating layers on lithium metal anode formed by reacting with different controlled atmospheres(argon,CO_2–O_2(2:1),N_2,and CO_2–O_2–N_2(2:1:3))have been investigated.The obtained XRD,second ion mass spectroscopy(SIMS),and scanning probe microscope(SPM)results demonstrate the formation of coating layers composed of Li_2CO_3,Li_3N,and the mixture of them on lithium tablets,respectively.The Li/Li symmetrical cell and Li/S cell are assembled to prove the advantages of the protected lithium tablet on electrochemical performance.The comparison of SEM and SIMS characterizations before/after cycles clarifies that an SEI-like composition formed on the lithium tablets could modulate the interfacial stabilization between the lithium foil and the ether electrolyte.     

A low cost composite quasi-solid electrolyte of LATP,TEGDME,and LiTFSI for rechargeable lithium batteries

The composite quasi solid state electrolytes(CQSE) is firstly synthesized with quasi solid state electrolytes(QSE) and lithium-ion-conducting material Li_(1.4)Al_(0.4)Ti_(1.6)(PO_4)_3(LATP), and the QSE consists of [LiG4][TFSI] with fumed silica nanoparticles. Compared with LATP, CQSE greatly improves the interface conductance of solid electrolytes. In addition,it has lower liquid volume relative to QSE. Although the liquid volume fraction of CQSE is droped to 60%, its conductivity can also reach 1.39 × 10~(-4)S/cm at 20℃. Linear sweep voltammetry(LSV) is conducted on each composite electrolyte.The results show the possibility that CQSE has superior electrochemical stability up to 5.0 V versus Li/Li+. TG curves also show that composite electrolytes have higher thermal stability. In addition, the performance of Li/QSE/Li Mn_2O_4 and Li/CQSE/Li Mn_2O_4 batteries is evaluated and shows good electrochemical characteristics at 60℃.