Empowering the Future: Exploring the Construction and Characteristics of Lithium-Ion Batteries

Lithium element has attracted remarkable attraction for energy storage devices, over the past 30 years. Lithium is a light element and exhibits the low atomic number 3, just after hydrogen and helium in the periodic table. The lithium atom has a strong tendency to release one electron and constitute a positive charge, as Li . Initially, lithium metal was employed as a negative electrode, which released electrons. However, it was observed that its structure changed after the repetition of charge-discharge cycles. To remedy this, the cathode mainly consisted of layer metal oxide and olive, e.g., cobalt oxide, LiFePO4, etc., along with some contents of lithium, while the anode was assembled by graphite and silicon, etc. Moreover, the electrolyte was prepared using the lithium salt in a suitable solvent to attain a greater concentration of lithium ions. Owing to the lithium ions’ role, the battery’s name was mentioned as a lithium-ion battery. Herein, the presented work describes the working and operational mechanism of the lithium-ion battery. Further, the lithium-ion batteries’ general view and future prospects have also been elaborated.

In-situ design and construction of lithium-ion battery electrodes on metal substrates with enhanced performances：A brief review

For the ever-growing demand of advanced lithium-ion batteries, it is highly desirable to grow self-supported micro-/nanostructured arrays on metal substrates as electrodes directly. The in-situ growth of electrode materials on the conducting substrates greatly simplifies the electrode fabrication process without using any binders or conductive additives. Moreover, the well-ordered arrays closely connected to the current collectors can provide direct electron transport pathways and enhanced accommodation of strains arisen from lithium ion lithiation/delithiation. This article summarizes our recent work on design and construction of lithium-ion battery electrodes on metal substrates. An aqueous solution-based process and a microemulsion-mediated process have been respectively presented to control the kinetic and thermodynamic processes for the micro-/nanostructured array growth on metal substrates, with particular attention to CuO nanorod arrays and microcog arrays successfully prepared on Cu foil substrates. They can be directly used as binder-free electrodes to build advanced lithium-ion batteries with high energy, high safety and high stability.

Circuit Model of 100 Ah Lithium Polymer Battery Cell

This paper presents a circuit model for a 100 Ah Lithium Polymer Battery that takes into account the effect of temperature and discharge rates. This is done by studying the behavior of two advanced 100 Ah Lithium Polymer Battery cells under different load condition and at different temperatures, to extract the RC parameters needed to develop the equivalent circuit model. This paper presents a methodology to identify the several parameters of the model. The parameters of the circuit model depend on both, battery cell temperature and discharging current rate. The model is validated by comparing simulation results with experimental data collected through battery cell tests. The simulation results of the battery cell model are obtained using MATLAB, and the experimental data are collected through the battery test system at battery evaluation lab at University of Massachusetts Lowell. This model is useful for optimization of the battery management system which is needed to run a battery bank safely in an electric car.

Improving ionic conductivity of polymer-based solid electrolytes for lithium metal batteries

Because of its superior safety and excellent processability,solid polymer electrolytes(SPEs)have attracted widespread attention.In lithium based batteries,SPEs have great prospects in replacing leaky and flammable liquid electrolytes.However,the low ionic conductivity of SPEs cannot meet the requirements of high energy density systems,which is also an important obstacle to its practical application.In this respect,escalating charge carriers(i.e.Li^(+))and Li^(+)transport paths are two major aspects of improving the ionic conductivity of SPEs.This article reviews recent advances from the two perspectives,and the underlying mechanism of these proposed strategies is discussed,including increasing the Li^(+)number and optimizing the Li^(+)transport paths through increasing the types and shortening the distance of Li^(+)transport path.It is hoped that this article can enlighten profound thinking and open up new ways to improve the ionic conductivity of SPEs.

Review:Natural Polymer Electrolytes for Lithium Ion Batteries

Polymer electrolytes are attractive materials towards achieving safe,flexible and high-performance energy storage devices( ESDs) such as lithium ion batteries( LIBs). Conventional polymer electrolytes are confronted with big challenges to achieve high ionic conductivity,good mechanical properties,excellent biocompatibility and environmental friendliness. In this context,natural polymeric materials have appealing merits of multi-functionality,ease of accessibility,good mechanical strength,etc. making them promising candidates to substitute conventional polymer electrolytes. Recently,the rational design and fabrication of advanced natural bio-based polymer electrolytes have made important progresses. In this review, we summarize recent developments in terms of polymer electrolytes using natural polymers for several application purposes. This review also involves the merits and demerits of the different natural polymers that have been investigated thus far. The insights on state-of-the-art for natural polymer electrolytes and possible solutions for further improvement of them are discussed as well in this review.

Semi-interpenetrating-network all-solid-state polymer electrolyte with liquid crystal constructing efficient ion transport channels for flexible solid lithium-metal batteries

The development of the solid-state polymer electrolytes (SPEs) for Li-ion batteries (LIBs) can effectively address the hidden safety issues of commercially used liquid electrolytes.Nevertheless,the unsatisfactory room temperature ion conductivity and inferior mechanical strength for linear PEO-based SPEs are still the immense obstacles impeding the further applications of SPEs for large-scale commercialization.Herein,we fabricate a series of semi-interpenetrating-network (semi-IPN) polymer electrolytes based on a novel liquid crystal (C6M LC) and poly(ethylene glycol) diglycidyl ether (PEGDE) via UV-irradiation at the first time.The LCs not only highly improve the mechanical properties of electrolyte membranes via the construction of network structure with PEGDE,but also create stable ion transport channels for ion conduction.As a result,a free-standing flexible SPE shows outstanding ionic conductivity(5.93×10^(-5) S cm^(-1) at 30℃),a very wide electrochemical stability window of 5.5 V,and excellent thermal stability at thermal decomposition temperatures above 360℃ as well as the capacity of suppressing lithium dendrite growth.Moreover,the LiFePO_(4)/Li battery assembled with the semi-IPN electrolyte membranes exhibits good cycle performance and admirable reversible specific capacity.This work highlights the obvious advantages of LCs applied to the electrolyte for the advanced solid lithium battery.

Poly(carbonate)-based ionic plastic crystal fast ion-conductor for solid-state rechargeable lithium batteries

Liquid plasticizers with a relatively higher dielectric coefficient like ethylene carbonate(EC),propylene carbonate(PC),and ethyl methyl carbonate(EMC) are the most commonly used electrolyte materials in commercial rechargeable lithium batteries(LIBs) due to their outstanding dissociation ability to lithium salts.However,volatility and fluidity result in their inevitable demerits like leakage and potential safety problem of the final LIBs.Here we for the first time device a subtle method to prepare a novel thermal-stable and non-fluid poly(carbonate) solid-state electrolyte to merge EC with lithium carriers.To this aim,a series of carbonate substituted imidazole ionic plastic crystals(G-NTOC) with different polymerization degrees have been synthesized.The resulting G-NTOC shows an excellent solid-state temperature window(R.T.-115℃).More importantly,the maximum ionic conductivity and lithium transference number of the prepared G-NTOC reach 0.36 × 10^(-3) S cm^(-1) and 0.523 at 30℃,respectively.Galvanostatic cycling test results reveal that the developed G-NTOC solid-state electrolytes are favorable to restraining the growth of lithium dendrite due to the excellent compatibility between the electrode and the produced plastic crystal electrolyte.The fabricated LiIG-NTOCILiFeP04 all-solid-state cell initially delivers a maximum discharge capacity of 152.1 mAh g^(-1) at the discharge rate of 0.1 C.After chargingdischarging the cell for 60 times,Coulombic efficiency of the solid-state cell still exceeds 97%.Notably,the LiIG-NTOCILiFeP04 cell can stably light a commercial LED with a rated power of 0.06 W for more than1 h at 30℃,and the output power nearly maintains unchanged with the charging-discharging cycling test,implying a sizeable potential application in the next generation of solid-state LIBs.

S-doped porous carbon fibers with superior electrode behaviors in lithium ion batteries and fuel cells

The orientation construction of S-doped porous carbon fibers(SPCFs)is realized by the facile template-directed methodology using asphalt powder as carbon source.The unique fiber-like morphology without destruction can be well duplicated from the template by the developed methodology.MgSO4 fibers serve as both templates and S dopant,realizing the in-situ S doping into carbon frameworks.The effects of different reaction temperatures on the yield and S doping level of SPCFs are investigated.The S doping can not only significantly enhance the electrical conductivity,but also introduce more defects or disorders.As anode material for lithium ion batteries(LIBs),SPCFs electrode delivers better rate capability than undoped PCFs.And the capacity of SPCFs electrode retains around 90%after 300 cycles at 2 A g1,exhibiting good cycling stability.As the electrocatalysts for fuel cells,the onset potentials of SPCFs obtained at 800 and 900C are concentrated at 0.863 V,and the higher kinetic current densities at 0.4 V of them are larger than that of PCFs,demonstrating the superior electrocatalytic performance.Due to the synergistic effect of abundant pore channels and S doping,SPCFs electrode exhibits superior electrochemical performances as anode for LIBs and elecctrocatalyst for fuel cells,respectively.Additionally,the oriented conversion of asphalt powder into high-performance electrode material in this work provides a new way for the high value application of asphalt.

A new review of single-ion conducting polymer electrolytes in the light of ion transport mechanisms

With the depletion of fossil fuels and the demand for high-performance energy storage devices,solidstate lithium metal batteries have received widespread attention due to their high energy density and safety advantages.Among them,the earliest developed organic solid-state polymer electrolyte has a promising future due to its advantages such as good mechanical flexibility,but its poor ion transport performance dramatically limits its performance improvement.Therefore,single-ion conducting polymer electrolytes(SICPEs)with high lithium-ion transport number,capable of improving the concentration polarization and inhibiting the growth of lithium dendrites,have been proposed,which provide a new direction for the further development of high-performance organic polymer electrolytes.In view of this,lithium ions transport mechanisms and design principles in SICPEs are summarized and discussed in this paper.The modification principles currently used can be categorized into the following three types:enhancement of lithium salt anion-polymer interactions,weakening of lithium salt anion-cation interactions,and modulation of lithium ion-polymer interactions.In addition,the advances in single-ion conductors of conventional and novel polymer electrolytes are summarized,and several typical highperformance single-ion conductors are enumerated and analyzed in what way they improve ionic conductivity,lithium ions mobility,and the ability to inhibit lithium dendrites.Finally,the advantages and design methodology of SICPEs are summarized again and the future directions are outlined.

Recent advances in gel polymer electrolyte for high-performance lithium batteries

Lithium batteries (LBs) have become increasingly important energy storage systems in our daily life. However, their practical applications are still severely plagued by the safety issues from liquid electrolyte, especially when the batteries are exposed to mechanical, thermal, or electrical abuse conditions. Gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs) are being considered as an effective solution to replace currently available organic liquid electrolyte for building safer LBs. This review provides recent advancements in GPEs applied for high-performance LBs. On the one hand, from the environmental and economic point of view, the skeletons of GPEs changed from traditional polymer to renewable and degradable polymer. On the other hand, in addition to being as a component with good electrochemical and physical characterizations, the GPEs also need to provide some functions for addressing the concerns of lithium (Li) dendrites, unstable cathode electrolyte interface, dissolution and migration of transition metal ions,"shuttle effect" of polysulfides, and so on. Finally, to synchronously meet the challenges from the advanced cathode and Li metal anode, the bio-based GPEs with multi-functionality are proposed to develop high-energy/powerdensity batteries in the future.

Electrochemical performance of all-solid lithium ion batteries with a polyaniline film cathode

We have prepared a high-density polyaniline（PANI） paste（50 mg/m L）, with similar physical properties to those of paints or pigments. The synthesis of PANI is confirmed by Fourier transform infrared（FT-IR） spectroscopy. The morphologies of PANI, doped PANI, and doped PANI paste are confirmed by scanning electron microscopy（SEM）. Particles of doped PANI paste are approximately 40–50 nm in diameter, with a uniform and cubic shape. The electrochemical performances of doped PANI paste using both liquid and solid polymer electrolytes have been measured by galvanostatic charge and discharge process. The cell fabricated with doped PANI paste and the solid polymer electrolyte exhibits a discharge capacity of ～87 μAh/cm2（64.0 m Ah/g） at the second cycle and～67 μAh/cm2（50.1 m Ah/g） at the 100 th cycle.

A review of solid-state lithium metal batteries through in-situ solidification

High-energy-density lithium metal batteries are the next-generation battery systems of choice,and replacing the flammable liquid electrolyte with a polymer solid-state electrolyte is a prominent conduct towards realizing the goal of high-safety and high-specific-energy devices.Unfortunately,the inherent intractable problems of poor solid-solid contacts between the electrode/electrolyte and the growth of Li dendrites hinder their practical applications.The in-situ solidification has demonstrated a variety of advantages in the application of polymer electrolytes and artificial interphase,including the design of integrated polymer electrolytes and asymmetric polymer electrolytes to enhance the compatibility of solid–solid contact and compatibility between various electrolytes,and the construction of artificial interphase between the Li anode and cathode to suppress the formation of Li dendrites and to enhance the high-voltage stability of polymer electrolytes.This review firstly elaborates the history of in-situ solidification for solid-state batteries,and then focuses on the synthetic methods of solidified electrolytes.Furthermore,the recent progress of in-situ solidification technology from both the design of polymer electrolytes and the construction of artificial interphase is summarized,and the importance of in-situ solidification technology in enhancing safety is emphasized.Finally,prospects,emerging challenges,and practical applications of in-situ solidification are envisioned.

Facile construction of two-dimensional coordination polymers with a well-designed redox-active organic linker for improved lithium ion battery performance

A well-designed redox-active organic linker,pyrazine-2,3,5,6-tetracarboxylate(H_4pztc)with brimming active sites for lithium ions storage was utilized to construct coordination polymers(CPs)via a facile hydrothermal reaction.Those two isostructural two-dimensional(2D)CPs,namely[M_2(pztc)(H_2O)_6]_n(M=Co for 1 and Ni for 2),delivered excellent reversible capacities and stable cycling performance as anodes in lithium ion batteries.As demonstrated in electrochemical studies,1 and 2 can achieve highly reversible capacities of 815 and 536 mA h g^(-1)at 200 mA g^(-1)for 150 cycles,respectively,best performed for the reported2D-CP-based anode materials.The electrochemical mechanism studies showed that the remarkable performances can be ascribed to the synergistic Li-storage redox reactions of metal centers and organic moieties.Our work highlights the opportunities of using a well-designed organic ligand to construct low-dimensional CPs as new type of electrode materials for advanced lithium ion batteries.

Highly Stable Silicon–Carbon–Nitrogen Composite Anodes from Silsesquiazane for Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery

Herein, we developed novel silicon-carbon-nitrogen （SiCN） composites synthesized by pyrolyzing silsesquiazane polymer as an anode material for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. Among variable pyrolysis temperatures of 700 ℃, 1000 ℃ and 1300 ℃, the SiCN composites prepared at 1000 ℃ showed the highest capacity with outstanding battery cycle life by cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Such good battery and electrochemical performances should be attributed to a proper ratio of carbon and nitrogen or oxygen in the SiCN composites. Furthermore, our SiCN electrode possessed better lithium ion conductivity than pure silicon nanoparticles. This work demonstrates that polymer-derived composites are among the promising strategies to achieve highly stable silicon anodes for rechargeable batteries.

Trimethyl phosphate-enhanced polyvinyl carbonate polymer electrolyte with improved interfacial stability for solid-state lithium battery

The polyvinyl carbonate(PVC)polymer solid electrolyte can be in-situ generated in the assembled lithium-ion battery(LIBs);however,its rigid characteristic leads to uneven interface contact between electrolyte and electrodes.In this work,trimethyl phosphate(TMP)is introduced into the precursor solution for in-situ generation of flexible PVC solid electrolyte to improve the interfacial contact of elec-trolyte and electrodes together with ionic conductivity.The PVC-TMP electrolyte exhibits good interface compatibility with the lithium metal anode,and the lithium symmetric battery based on PVC-TMP electrolyte shows no obvious polarization within 1000 h cycle.As a consequence,the initial interfacial resistance of battery greatly decreases from 278Ω(LiFePO_(4)(LFP)/PVC/Li)to 93Ω(LFP/PVC-TMP/Li)at 50℃,leading to an improved cycling stability of the LFP/PVC-TMP/Li battery.Such in-situ preparation of solid electrolyte within the battery is demonstrated to be very significant for commercial application.

Two-dimensional metal oxide nanosheets for rechargeable batteries

Two-dimensional（2D） metal oxide nanosheets have attracted much attention as potential electrode materials for rechargeable batteries in recent years. This is primarily due to their natural abundance, environmental compatibility, and low cost as well as good electrochemical properties. Despite the fact that most metal oxides possess low conductivity, the introduction of some conductive heterogeneous components, such as nano-carbon, carbon nanotubes（CNTs）, and graphene, to form metal oxide-based hybrids,can effectively overcome this drawback. In this mini review, we will summarize the recent advances of three typical 2D metal oxide nanomaterials, namely, binary metal oxides, ternary metal oxides, and hybrid metal oxides, which are used for the electrochemical applications of next-generation rechargeable batteries, mainly for lithium-ion batteries（LIBs） and sodium-ion batteries（SIBs）. Hence, this review intends to functionalize as a good reference for the further research on 2D nanomaterials and the further development of energy-storage devices.

Atomic-scale engineering of advanced catalytic and energy materials via atomic layer deposition for eco-friendly vehicles

Zero-emission eco-friendly vehicles with partly or fully electric powertrains have exhibited rapidly increased demand for reducing the emissions of air pollutants and improving the energy efficiency. Advanced catalytic and energy materials are essential as the significant portions in the key technologies of eco-friendly vehicles, such as the exhaust emission control system,power lithium ion battery and hydrogen fuel cell. Precise synthesis and surface modification of the functional materials and electrodes are required to satisfy the efficient surface and interface catalysis, as well as rapid electron/ion transport. Atomic layer deposition(ALD), an atomic and close-to-atomic scale manufacturing method, shows unique characteristics of precise thickness control, uniformity and conformality for film deposition, which has emerged as an important technique to design and engineer advanced catalytic and energy materials. This review has summarized recent process of ALD on the controllable preparation and modification of metal and oxide catalysts, as well as lithium ion battery and fuel cell electrodes. The enhanced catalytic and electrochemical performances are discussed with the unique nanostructures prepared by ALD. Recent works on ALD reactors for mass production are highlighted. The challenges involved in the research and development of ALD on the future practical applications are presented, including precursor and deposition process investigation, practical device performance evaluation, large-scale and efficient production, etc.

PREPARATION AND ELECTROCHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF POLYMER ELECTROLYTE MEMBRANES BASED ON SAN/PVDF-HFP BLENDS

A copolymer of poly（acrylonitrile-co-styrene） （SAN） was synthesized via an emulsion polymerization method. Novel polymer electrolyte membranes cast from the blends of poly（vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene） （PVDF- HFP）, SAN and fumed silica （SIO2） are microporous and can be used in polymer lithium-ion batteries. The membrane shows excellent characteristics such as high ionic conductivity and good mechanical strength when the mass ratio between SAN and PVDF-HFP and SiO2 is 3.5/31.5/5. The ionic conductivity of the membrane soaked in a liquid electrolyte of 1 mol/L LiPF6/EC/DMC/DEC is 4.9 × 10^-3 S cm^-1 at 25℃. The membrane is electrochemical stable up to 5.5 V versus Li^＋/Li in the liquid electrolyte. The influences of SiO2 content on the porosity and mechanical strength of the membranes were studied. Polymer lithium-ion batteries based on the membranes were assembled and their performances were also studied.