Highly improved cyclic stability of Ni-rich/Li batteries with succinic anhydride as electrolyte additive and underlying mechanism

Lithium-metal battery based on Ni-rich cathode provides high energy density but presents poor cyclic stability due to the unstable electrode/electrolyte interfaces on both cathode and anode.In this work,we report a new strategy to address this issue.It is found that the cyclic stability of Ni-rich/Li battery can be significantly improved by using succinic anhydride(SA) as an electrolyte additive.Specifically,the capacity retention of LiNi_(0.8)Co_(0.1)Mn_(0.1)O_(2)(NCM811)/Li cell is improved from 14% to 83% after 200cycles at 1 C between 3.0 and 4.35 V by applying 5% SA.The underlying mechanism of SA contribution is understood by comparing the effects of malic anhydride(MA) and citraconic anhydride(CA), both of which share a similar molecular structure to SA but show different effects.On anode side,SA can but MA and CA cannot form a protective solid electrolyte interphase(SEI) on Li anode.On cathode side,three anhydrides can suppress the formation of hydrogen fluoride from electrolyte oxidation decomposition,but SA behaves best.Typically,MA shows adverse effects on the interface stability of Li anode and NCM811 cathode,which originates from its high acidity.Though the acidity of MA can be mitigated by substituting a methyl for one H atom at its C=C bond,the substituent CA cannot compete with SA in cyclic stability improvement of the cell,because the SEI resulting from CA is not as robust as that from SA,which is related to the binding energy of the SEI components.This understanding reveals the importance of the electrolyte acidity on the Ni-rich cathode and the robustness of the SEI on Li anode,which is helpful for rationally designing new electrolyte additives to further improve the cyclic stability of high-energydensity Ni-rich/Li batteries.

Revealing the critical effect of solid electrolyte interphase on the deposition and detriment of Co(Ⅱ) ions to graphite anode

"Dissolution,migration,and deposition"of transition metal ions (TMIs) result in capacity degradation of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs).Understanding such detrimental mechanism of TMIs is critical to the development of LIBs with long cycle life.In most previous works,TMIs were directly introduced into the electrolyte to investigate such a detrimental mechanism.In these cases,the TMIs are deposited directly on the fresh anode surface.However,in the practical battery system,the TMIs are deposited on the anode covered with solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) film.Whether the pre-presence of SEI film on anode surface influences the deposition and detriment of TMIs is unclear.In this work,the deposition of Co element on graphite anode with and without SEI film were systematically studied.The results clearly show that,in comparison with that of fresh graphite (SEI-free),the presence of SEI film aggravates the deposition of Co ions due to the Li^(+)–Co^(2+) ion exchange between the SEI and Co^(2+)-containing electrolyte without the driving of the electric field,leading to faster capacity fading of graphite anode.Therefore,how to regulate electrolytes and film-forming additives to design the components of SEI and prevent its exchange with TMIs,is a crucial way to inhibit the deposition and detriment of TMIs on graphite anode.

Degradation of platinum electrocatalysts for methanol oxidation by lead contamination

Platinum exhibits high electrocatalytic activity toward various reactions but might be poisoned by some species. This communication reports a new finding that the electrocatalytic activity of platinum for methanol oxidation will be largely lost in a lead-contaminated environment. This activity loss is demonstrated in an electrochemical cell using a lead counter electrode for measuring the activity of platinum electrode towards methanol oxidation. The recorded methanol oxidation current in this cell is significantly decreased compared with that using a platinum counter electrode. The possible mechanism is related to the adsorption of trace lead ions from the lead counter electrode, as confirmed by comparing the calculated binding energies of platinum and lead ions with oxygen ion. This report is of great importance for reliably designing and efficiently managing direct methanol fuel cells, because trace lead might be present in various components in the fuel cell systems or in air and attention should be paid to its negative effect.