Improved properties of positive electrolyte for a vanadium redox flow battery by adding taurine

Taurine was employed as an additive to improve the thermal stability and electrochemical performance of positive electrolyte for a vanadium redox flow battery. The addition of taurine could significantly improve the thermal stability of positive electrolyte, and 2 M V(V) electrolyte with 4 mol% taurine could keep it stable at 40 °C for 120 h, which was 54 h longer than the pristine one. Electrochemical measurements showed that the electrolyte with taurine exhibited superior electrochemical activity and reaction kinetics with a larger diffusion coefficient, exchange current density and reaction rate constant compared with the pristine one. Moreover, the cell using taurine as additive achieved higher average energy efficiency (81.75%) than the pristine cell (79.15%). The Raman and XPS spectroscopy illustrated that taurine could combine with VO²⁺ to form a small molecule complex and the –NH₂ in taurine could be adsorbed on the surface of the electrode to provide more active sites for the electrode reaction, which led to the improvement of mass transfer and the charge transfer process for the V(IV)/V(V) redox reaction.     

A novel gel polymer electrolyte based on lithium salt with an ethyl cellulose

A novel gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) that contains Li⁺ ions was fabricated. An appropriate amount of ethyl cellulose (EC) was added to 1 M lithium perchlorate in propylene carbonate to prepare the GPE. The ionic conductivity (σ) of the GPE depends on the EC content, and the GPE with an EC content of 4.5 wt.% exhibits a maximum σ of 6.47 mS/cm, a viscosity of 141 mPa?s, and a transmittance of over 80% (visible region) at room temperature. High σ and transparent GPE can be obtained. In this work, the EC was used as natural thickener to enhance the viscosity of the liquid-state electrolyte and could improve the leakage of electrolyte solution.     

PEO/LiClO_4纳米SiO_2复合聚合物电解质的电化学研究

将实验室制备的纳米二氧化硅和市售纳米二氧化硅粉末与PEO LiClO4复合 ,制得了复合PEO电解质 .它们的室温离子电导率可比未复合的PEO电解质提高 1～ 2个数量级 ,最高可以达到 1 2 4× 10 - 5S cm .离子电导率的提高有两方面的原因 :一是无机二氧化硅粉末的加入抑制了PEO的结晶 ,是二氧化硅粉末和聚合物电解质之间形成的界面对电导率的提高也有一定的作用 .在进一步加入PC EC(碳酸丙烯酯 碳酸乙烯酯 )混合增塑剂后制得的复合凝胶PEO电解质 ,可使室温离子电导率再提高 2个数量 ,达到 2× 10 - 3 S cm .用这种复合凝胶PEO电解质组装了Li|compositegelelectrolyte|Li半电池 ,并测量了该半电池的交流阻抗谱图随组装后保持时间的变化 ,实验观察到在保持时间为 144h以内钝化膜的交流阻抗迅速增大 ,但在随后的时间内逐渐趋于平稳 ,表明二氧化硅粉末的加入可以有效地抑制钝化膜的生长     

聚苯并咪唑-锂盐-聚乙二醇单甲醚共混全固态聚合物电解质的制备及性能

使用共混后浇铸成膜的方法,制备了聚苯并咪唑-锂盐-聚乙二醇单甲醚组成的锂离子电池共混全固态聚合物电解质。通过傅里叶红外光谱(FT-IR)、X射线衍射(XRD)、差示扫描量热(DSC)、拉伸与交流阻抗测试表征了共混全固态电解质的结构与性能。研究了不同锂盐以及各组分含量对共混全固态电解质的力学性能与电导率的影响。结果表明:聚苯并咪唑与聚乙二醇单甲醚之间存在氢键;共混全固态电解质中聚乙二醇单甲醚处于无定形态;锂盐的加入使聚乙二醇单甲醚的玻璃化转变温度下降;聚乙二醇单甲醚含量越高,共混膜强度越低,电导率越高,并且使用三氟甲磺酸锂作为锂盐时其电导率最高,室温下可以达到3.58×10~(-5) S/cm,高温下可以达到3.3×10~(-3) S/cm,高温下满足对锂离子电池的使用需求。     

Effect of solvated ionic liquids on the ion conducting property of composite membranes for lithium ion batteries

We prepared the polyethylene oxide (PEO)-based composite membrane electrolytes which contained the specialized ionic liquids and the inorganic filler of Li₇La₃Zr₂O₁₂ (LLZO). Mixtures of ionic liquids and tetragonal inorganic fillers were used as additives to prepare composite electrolytes for an application of all solid-state lithium ion batteries (ASLBs). In order to improve the ionic conductivity of composite membranes, we studied the structural change and the electrochemical behaviors as a function of the amounts of solvated ionic liquids (ILs). The addition effect of solvated ILs showed the higher ionic conductivity such as 10^?4 S/cm at 55 °C by reducing the crystalline character of polymer based composite, resulting in the enhanced ion conducting property. The hybrid composite membranes were successfully made in flexible form, and have an excellent thermal and electrochemical stability. Finally, the electrochemical performance of the half-cell was evaluated, and it was confirmed that the ion-conducting characteristics were influenced and controlled by the effect of ILs.     

Aqueous Batteries Operated at −50 °C

Insufficient ionic conductivity and freezing of the electrolyte are considered the main problems for electrochemical energy storage at low temperatures (low T). Here, an electrolyte with a freezing point lower than ?130 °C is developed by using dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as an additive with molar fraction of 0.3 to an aqueous solution of 2 m NaClO₄ (2M‐0.3 electrolyte). The 2M‐0.3 electrolyte exhibits sufficient ionic conductivity of 0.11 mS cm^?1 at ?50 °C. The combination of spectroscopic investigations and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations reveal that hydrogen bonds are stably formed between DMSO and water molecules, facilitating the operation of the electrolyte at ultra‐low T. Using DMSO as the electrolyte additive, the aqueous rechargeable alkali‐ion batteries (AABs) can work well even at ?50 °C. This work provides a simple and effective strategy to develop low T AABs.     

Improvement of cyclability of silicon-containing carbon nanofiber anodes for lithium-ion batteries by employing succinic anhydride as an electrolyte additive

Si/C composite nanofibers were prepared by electrospinning and carbonization using polyacrylonitrile as the spinning medium and carbon precursor. The effect of electrolyte additive succinic anhydride (SA) on the electrochemical performance of Si/C composite nanofiber anodes was investigated. Results show that after 50 cycles, the discharge capacity of Si/C composite nanofiber anode with the SA-added electrolyte is 34 % higher than that with additive-free electrolyte. At 150th cycle, the capacity retention of Si/C composite nanofiber anode with SA-added electrolyte is 82 % under 70 % state-of-charge. It is demonstrated that adding additive SA in the electrolyte is an effective and economic way to improve the cyclability of high-capacity Si/C composite nanofibers for next-generation high-energy lithium-ion batteries.     

Novel fast lithium-ion conductor LiTa2PO8 enhances the performance of poly(ethylene oxide)-based polymer electrolytes in all-solid-state lithium metal batteries

At present, replacing the liquid electrolyte in a lithium metal battery with a solid electrolyte is considered to be one of the most powerful strategies to avoid potential safety hazards. Composite solid electrolytes (CPEs) have excellent ionic conductivity and flexibility owing to the combination of functional inorganic materials and polymer solid electrolytes (SPEs). Nevertheless, the ionic conductivity of CPEs is still lower than those of commercial liquid electrolytes, so the development of high-performance CPEs has important practical significance. Herein, a novel fast lithium-ion conductor material LiTa₂PO₈ was first filled into poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-based SPE, and the optimal ionic conductivity was achieved by filling different concentrations (the ionic conductivity is 4.61 × 10^?4 S/cm with a filling content of 15 wt% at 60 °C). The enhancement in ionic conductivity is due to the improvement of PEO chain movement and the promotion of LiTFSI dissociation by LiTa₂PO₈. In addition, LiTa₂PO₈ also takes the key in enhancing the mechanical strength and thermal stability of CPEs. The assembled LiFePO₄ solid-state lithium metal battery displays better rate performance (the specific capacities are as high as 157.3, 152, 142.6, 105 and 53.1 mAh/g under 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1 and 2 C at 60 °C, respectively) and higher cycle performance (the capacity retention rate is 86.5% after 200 cycles at 0.5 C and 60 °C). This research demonstrates the feasibility of LiTa₂PO₈ as a filler to improve the performance of CPEs, which may provide a fresh platform for developing more advanced solid-state electrolytes.     

聚合物固体电解质中的离子状态与导电机理的研究

制备得到了一种新颖的聚氨酯和丙烯酸酯复合梳形交联聚合物 (Combcross linkedpolymer) ,并以此聚合物为基体加入不同含量的高氯酸锂盐制得一系列聚合物固体电解质 ,其室温电导率可以达到 3 4× 10 - 5S·cm- 1 .通过Raman、DSC、SEM及电性能等研究了电解质中的盐浓度与离子存在状态及离子电导率之间的关系 .结果显示随着盐浓度的增加 ,聚合物固体电解质中离子对的比例和电导率都迅速增加 ,说明离子对 (由多个醚氧原子、阴离子和阳离子组成 )对体系导电起着积极的作用 .     

MICROPOROUS PVDF-HFP-BASED POLYMER MEMBRANES FORMED FROM SUPERCRITICAL CO2 INDUCED PHASE SEPARATION

Microporous poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene)(PVDF-HFP)membranes following supercritical CO_2 induced phase separation process were prepared using four solvents.The solid electrolytes of PVDF-HFP were formed by microporous PVDF-HFP membranes filled and swollen by a liquid electrolyte.The effect of the solvents on the morphology and structure,electrolyte absorptions and lithium ionic conductivity of the activated membranes were investigated.It was approved that all the membrane had the simi...     

Design of Single Ionic Conduction in Polymeric Solid Electrolytes

Oligo(oxyethylene) methacrylate, MEO, has been synthesized as a basic material to design a polymeric solid electrolyte. The homopolymer P(MEO) has a glass transition temperature of -78°C. P(MEO) solubilizes inorganic salts without solvent, and the dissociated ions migrate fast to give very high ionic conductivity, above 10^?5 S/cm for ac. Although the ac conductivity is high, the current decreases gradually under dc conditions. This is improved by the design of an ionic conductor using only cations. Poly[oligo(oxyethylene) methacrylate-co-alkali metal methacrylate], P(MEO-MAM), is prepared as an organic solid electrolytes which allows cationic single-ion conduction. The ionic conductivity of the films depends on the electrolyte content, the dissociation energy of the comonomeric electrolytes, and the degree of segmental motion surrounding the ions in the polymer matrix. The ionic conductivity of Li or K is around 10^?6 S/cm in these polymeric systems at 80°C. The plot of logarithmic conducticity vs reciprocal absolute temperature is a curved line. The Williams-Landel-Ferry parameters, calculated from the temperature dependence of the conductivity, coincided with theoretical values within a certain range. The single-ion conduction in these films is concluded to be affected considerably by the segmental motion of the matrix polymer. This is also confirmed by the Vogel-Tammann-Fulcher plot.     

Modification of MgO as an immobilizing agent for molten electrolyte

This paper describes the synthesis and texture of the MgF₂-MgO system used as an immobilizing agent of the electrolyte (KCl-LiCl-RbCl) for high-temperature cells. Preparations containing 20 and 40 mol% MgF₂ were characterized by a mesoporous structure and large specific surface areas. It was demonstrated that pellets containing 40–50 mas.% of MgF₂-MgO immobilizing agent were good electrolyte immobilizers. The ionic conductivity of pellets investigated in this work ranged from 0.02 to 0.04 S/cm, and it was about 20 times lower than the value set for the pure electrolyte. The difference is due to the tortuosity of the pellet. This mixture remains dimensionally stable at 400 °C and under 60 kPa and reveals good ionic conductivity during tests in a model cell with a 1.32-Ω resistor. During the discharge of the cell, it was observed that the voltage was not less than 1.5 V and current more than 1 A for approximately 100 s. No leakage of the electrolyte was observed.     

Effect of lithium iodide addition on poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(vinylidene fluoride) polymer-blend electrolyte for dye-sensitized nanocrystalline solar cell

The effect of lithium iodide concentration on the conduction behavior of poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PEO-PVDF) polymer-blend electrolyte and the corresponding performance of the dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) were studied. The conduction behavior of these electrolytes was investigated with varying LiI concentration (10-60 wt % in polymer blend) by impedance spectroscopy. A "polymer-in-salt" like conduction behavior has been observed in the high salt concentration region. The transition from "salt-in-polymer" to "polymer-in-salt" conduction behavior happened at the salt content of 23.4 wt %, which is much lower than 50 wt % as generally reported. The electrolyte shows the highest ionic conductivity (approximately 10(-3) S cm(-1)) at the salt concentration above 23.4 wt %. From the evaluation of salt effect on the performances of corresponding DSSC, we find that increasing LiI concentration leads to increased short-circuit photocurrent density (Jsc) caused by enhanced I3(-) diffusion up to an LiI content of 28.9 wt %. Above this limitation, the Jsc decreases as a result of increased charge recombination caused by the further increased I3(-) concentration. The open-circuit voltage (Voc) increases gradually with LiI concentration owing to the enhanced I(-) content in DSSC. The optimized conversion efficiency is obtained at a salt content of 28.9 wt % in the "polymer-in-salt" region, with high ionic conductivity (1.06 x 10(-3) S cm(-1)). Based on these facts, we suggest that the changes of conduction behavior and the changes of I3(-) and I(-) concentrations in the electrolytes contribute to the final performance variation of the corresponding DSSC with varying LiI concentration.     

负载型离子液体在C-H键电氧化活化中的应用研究

本文将1-乙基-3-甲基咪唑醋酸盐离子液体修饰在多壁碳纳米管上,制备出离子液体/碳纳米管复合材料,并研究了对甲氧基甲苯（p-MT）在该复合离子液体水溶液体系中的电氧化性能. 同时,通过循环伏安法和计时电流法考查了扫描速率、温度、反应底物浓度等因素对电氧化性能的影响,研究了p-MT在该体系中的动力学过程. 实验结果表明,p-MT在复合离子液体水溶液体系中发生不可逆的电氧化反应,且该过程受扩散控制,扩散系数为7.69×10^-10 cm²·s^-1. 适当地升高温度和增大反应底物浓度都有利于促进p-MT中C-H键选择性电氧化为相应醛基,选择性可达到95%. 通过在不同结构电解槽中进行恒电位电解研究,发现离子液体/MWCNTs复合电解质在一室型电解槽中进行p-MT电氧化的电解效率更高、对目标产物对甲氧基苯甲醛（p-MBA）的选择性也更好.     

Novel ionic liquid based electrolyte for double layer capacitors with enhanced high potential stability

Developing electrolyte with high electrochemical stability is the most effective way to improve the energy density of double layer capacitors (DLCs), and ionic liquid is a promising choice. Herein, a novel ionic liquid based high potential electrolyte with a stabilizer, succinonitrile, was proposed to improve the high potential stability of the DLC. The electrolyte with 7.5 wt% succinonitrile added has a high ionic conductivity of 41.1 mS cm^-1 under ambient temperature, and the DLC adopting this electrolyte could be charged to 3.0 V with stable cycle ability even under a discharge current density of 6 A g^-1. Moreover, the energy density could be increased by 23.4% when the DLC was charged to 3.0 V compared to that charged to 2.7 V.     

Practical implications of ionic strength effects on particle retention in thermal field-flow fractionation

Modification of ionic strength of an aqueous or non-aqueous carrier solution can have profound effects on the particle retention behavior in thermal field-flow fractionation (ThFFF). These effects can be considered as either advantageous or not depending on the performance criteria under consideration. Aside from the general increase in retention time of particulate material (latexes and silica particles), our experiments indicate improvement in resolution with increases in electrolyte concentration. Absence of an electrolyte in the carrier solution causes deviations from the theoretically expected linear behavior between the retention parameter lambda (a measure of the extent of interaction between the applied field and the particle) and the reciprocal temperature drop across the channel walls. A negative interaction parameter delta(w), of about -0.170 was determined for 0.105- and 0.220-microm polystyrene (PS) latex particles suspended in either a 0.25 or a 1.0 mM TBAP-containing acetonitrile carrier and for 0.220 microm PS in 0.50 and 1.0 mM NaCl-containing aqueous medium. This work also demonstrates that optimum electrolyte concentrations can be chosen to achieve reasonable experimental run-times, good resolution separations, and shifts in the steric inversion points at lower field strengths, and that too high electrolyte concentrations can have deleterious effects such as band broadening and sample loss through adsorption to the channel accumulation surface. The advantages of using ionic strength rather than field strength to effect desired changes are lowered power consumption and possible application of ThFFF to high temperature-labile samples.     

Ion-Neutral Photofragment Coincidence Imaging of Photodissociation Dynamics of Ionic Species

The recently constructed cryogenic cylindrical ion trap velocity map imaging spectrometer (CIT-VMI) has been upgraded for coincidence imaging of both ionic and neutral photofragments from photodissociation of ionic species. The prepared ions are cooled down in a home-made cryogenic cylindrical ion trap and then extracted for photodissociation experiments. With the newly designed electric fields for extraction and acceleration, the ion beam can be accelerated to more than 4500 eV, which is necessary for velocity imaging of the neutral photofragments by using the position-sensitive imaging detector. The setup has been tested by the 355 nm photodissociation dynamics of the argon dimer cation (Ar\begin{document}$_2$\end{document}\begin{document}$^+$\end{document}). From the recorded experimental images of both neutral Ar and ionic Ar\begin{document}$^+$\end{document} fragments, we interpret velocity resolutions of \begin{document}$\Delta v/v$\end{document}\begin{document}$\approx$\end{document}4.6% for neutral fragments, and \begin{document}$\Delta v/v$\end{document}\begin{document}$\approx$\end{document}1.5% for ionic fragments, respectively.     

Study of electrochromic devices with nanocomposites polymethacrylate hydroxyethylene resin based electrolyte

This paper reports the application of a polymethacrylate hydroxyethylene resin based electrolyte in electrochromic (EC) devices. The electrolyte is characterized by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, visible spectroscopy, TGA, DSC, and DRX and tested as an ionic conductor in an EC device with the following configuration: Substrate/IZO/WO₃/Polymer Electrolyte/(CeO₂)TiO₂/IZO/Substrate. The electrolyte presents an ionic conductivity of 10^?7 S/cm at room temperature and TGA analysis show that electrolyte is thermally degraded at 200°C. The EC device based on this polymethacrylate hydroxyethylene resin electrolyte system shows memory effect and exhibits an excellent optical density. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mg(OOCCH(3))(2) as an electrolyte additive for quasi-solid dye-sensitized solar cells: with the purpose of enhancing both the photovoltage and photocurrent by modifying the TiO(2)/dye/electrolyte interfaces

The interface modification effect within quasi-solid dye-sensitized solar cells and the photovoltaic performance were investigated after the introduction of Mg(OOCCH(3))(2) as an additive into a polymer gel electrolyte. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy showed that the addition of Mg(OOCCH(3))(2) into the polymer gel electrolyte can efficiently retard charge recombination at the TiO(2)/electrolyte interface. Mg(OOCCH(3))(2) in the electrolyte can also contribute to the enhancement of the incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiency by modifying the dye molecules. This results in an improvement in the photovoltage and photocurrent due to a barrier layer at the TiO(2)/electrolyte interface and the promotion of charge injection at the dye/TiO(2) interface, respectively. Photovoltaic measurements reveal that a conversion efficiency enhancement from 4.05% to 4.96% under 100 mW cm(-2) is obtained after the amount of Mg(OOCCH(3))(2) added was optimized.     

Effect of NiO nanofiller concentration on the properties of PEO-NiO-LiClO4 composite polymer electrolyte

Composite polymer electrolyte films comprising polyethylene oxide (PEO) as the polymer host, LiClO₄ as the dopant, and NiO nanoparticle as the inorganic filler was prepared by solution casting technique. NiO inorganic filler was synthesized via sol-gel method. The effect of NiO filler on the ionic conductivity, structure, and morphology of PEO-LiClO₄-based composite polymer electrolyte was investigated by AC impedance spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. It was observed that the conductivity of the electrolyte increases with NiO concentration. The highest room temperature conductivity of the electrolyte was 7.4?×?10^?4 S cm^?1 at 10 wt.% NiO. The observation on structure shows the highest conductivity appears in amorphous phase. This result has been supported by surface morphology analysis showing that the NiO filler are well distributed in the samples. As a conclusion, the addition of NiO nanofiller improves the conductivity of PEO-LiClO₄ composite polymer electrolyte.