Solid-State Lithium-Air Cell Surpasses 1000 Cycles
Scientific Achievement
A lithium-air battery based on Li2O formation was designed and tested in cells for 1000 cycles at room temperature. The main new component is a solid electrolyte based on Li10GeP2S12 nanoparticles embedded in a modified polyethylene oxide polymer matrix.
Significance and Impact
Operating with oxygen supplied by the air, this lithium –air battery can theoretically deliver an energy density comparable to that of gasoline. This is four times the density of common lithium-ion batteries. This newer safer battery can provide a longer driving range that could one day power cars, airplanes, and trucks.
Research Details
- Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of the discharged cathode product indicated some Mo3P nanoparticles with amorphous film (10 to 20 nm thick), presumably the LiO2/Li2O2/Li2O observed by the Raman mapping.
Work was performed in part at the Center for Nanoscale Materials, a DOE Office of Science user facility.
About Argonne’s Center for Nanoscale Materials
The Center for Nanoscale Materials is one of the five DOE Nanoscale Science Research Centers, premier national user facilities for interdisciplinary research at the nanoscale supported by the DOE Office of Science. Together the NSRCs comprise a suite of complementary facilities that provide researchers with state-of-the-art capabilities to fabricate, process, characterize and model nanoscale materials, and constitute the largest infrastructure investment of the National Nanotechnology Initiative. The NSRCs are located at DOE’s Argonne, Brookhaven, Lawrence Berkeley, Oak Ridge, Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories. For more information about the DOE NSRCs, please visit https://science.osti.gov/User-Facilities/User-Facilities-at-a-Glance.
Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology by conducting leading-edge basic and applied research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit https://energy.gov/science.