Electrochemical behavior of LiCoO2 as aqueous lithium-ion battery electrodes

Despite the large number of studies on the behavior of LiCoO₂ in organic electrolytes and its recent application as a positive electrode in rechargeable water battery prototypes, a little information is available about the lithium intercalation reaction in this layered compound in aqueous electrolytes. This work shows that LiCoO₂ electrodes can be reversibly cycled in LiNO₃ aqueous electrolytes for tens of cycles at remarkably high rates with impressive values specific capacity higher than 100 mAh/g, and with a coulomb efficiency greater than 99.7%. Stable and reproducible cycling measurements have been made using a simple cell design that can be easily applied to the study of other intercalation materials, assuming that they are stable in water and that their intercalation potential range matches the electrochemical stability window of the aqueous electrolyte. The experimental arrangement uses a three-electrode flooded cell in which another insertion compound acts as a reversible source and sink of lithium ions, i.e., as the counter electrode. A commercial reference electrode is also present. Both the working and the counter electrodes have been prepared as thin layers on a metallic substrate using the procedures typical for the study of electrodes for lithium-ion batteries in organic solvent electrolytes.