Researchers must find a sustainable way of providing the power our modern lifestyles demand.

Building better batteries

2.1. Solvents 4307 2.1.1. Propylene Carbonate (PC) 4308 2.1.2. Ethers 4308 2.1.3. Ethylene Carbonate (EC) 4309 2.1.4. Linear Dialkyl Carbonates 4310 2.2. Lithium Salts 4310 2.2.1. Lithium Perchlorate (LiClO4) 4311 2.2.2. Lithium Hexafluoroarsenate (LiAsF6) 4312 2.2.3. Lithium Tetrafluoroborate (LiBF4) 4312 2.2.4. Lithium Trifluoromethanesulfonate (LiTf) 4312 2.2.5. Lithium Bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiIm) and Its Derivatives 4313

/pdf/nonaqueous-liquid-electrolytes-for-lithium-based-uxm5ffbi18.pdf

Nonaqueous liquid electrolytes for lithium-based rechargeable batteries.

Li-ion battery technology has become very important in recent years as these batteries show great promise as power sources that can lead us to the electric vehicle (EV) revolution. The development of new materials for Li-ion batteries is the focus of research in prominent groups in the field of materials science throughout the world. Li-ion batteries can be considered to be the most impressive success story of modern electrochemistry in the last two decades. They power most of today's portable devices, and seem to overcome the psychological barriers against the use of such high energy density devices on a larger scale for more demanding applications, such as EV. Since this field is advancing rapidly and attracting an increasing number of researchers, it is important to provide current and timely updates of this constantly changing technology. In this review, we describe the key aspects of Li-ion batteries: the basic science behind their operation, the most relevant components, anodes, cathodes, electrolyte solutions, as well as important future directions for R&D of advanced Li-ion batteries for demanding use, such as EV and load-leveling applications.

Challenges in the development of advanced Li-ion batteries: a review

Energy storage using batteries offers a solution to the intermittent nature of energy production from renewable sources; however, such technology must be sustainable. This Review discusses battery development from a sustainability perspective, considering the energy and environmental costs of state-of-the-art Li-ion batteries and the design of new systems beyond Li-ion. Images: batteries, car, globe: © iStock/Thinkstock.

Towards greener and more sustainable batteries for electrical energy storage

Lithium-ion batteries have had a profound impact on our daily life, but inherent limitations make it difficult for Li-ion chemistries to meet the growing demands for portable electronics, electric vehicles and grid-scale energy storage. Therefore, chemistries beyond Li-ion are currently being investigated and need to be made viable for commercial applications. The use of metallic Li is one of the most favoured choices for next-generation Li batteries, especially Li-S and Li-air systems. After falling into oblivion for several decades because of safety concerns, metallic Li is now ready for a revival, thanks to the development of investigative tools and nanotechnology-based solutions. In this Review, we first summarize the current understanding on Li anodes, then highlight the recent key progress in materials design and advanced characterization techniques, and finally discuss the opportunities and possible directions for future development of Li anodes in applications.

Reviving the lithium metal anode for high-energy batteries

Electrocatalytic activity of nitrogen plasma treated vertically aligned carbon nanotube carpets towards oxygen reduction reaction

NH3-Plasma pre-treated carbon supported active iron–nitrogen catalyst for oxygen reduction in acid and alkaline electrolytes

The anode activity in a microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) is known to be a limiting factor in hydrogen production. In this study, the MEC was constructed using different anode materials and a platinum-coated carbon-cloth cathode (CC). The anodes were comprised of CC, stainless steel (SS), and a combination of the two (COMB). The CC and SS anodes were also treated with plasma to improve their surface morphology and hydrophilic properties (CCP and SSP, respectively). A combined version of CCP attached to SS was also applied (COMBP). After construction of the MEC using the different anodes, we conducted electrochemical measurements and examination of biofilm viability. Under an applied voltage of 0.6 V (Ag/AgCl), the currents of a MEC based on CCP and COMBP were 11.66 ± 0.1331 and 16.36 ± 0.3172 A m−2, respectively, which are about three times higher compared to the untreated CC and COMB. A MEC utilizing an untreated SS anode exhibited current of only 0.3712 ± 0.0108 A m−2. The highest biofilm viability of 0.92 OD540 ± 0.07 and hydrogen production rate of 0.0736 ± 0.0022 m3 d−1 m−2 at 0.8 V were obtained in MECs based on the COMBP anode. To our knowledge, this is the first study that evaluated the effect of plasma-treated anodes and the use of a combined anode composed of SS and CC for hydrogen evolution in a MEC.

https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/10/1968/pdf

Improvement of Microbial Electrolysis Cell Activity by Using Anode Based on Combined Plasma-Pretreated Carbon Cloth and Stainless Steel

Recently, vanadium nitride (VN) was proposed as an active catalyst for a challenging electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) to ammonia. In this study, the stability of vanadium‐nitride in electrolyte solutions of different pH values was studied under selected cathodic potentials. Intensive leaching of vanadium ions and nitrogen constituents into the bulk of the electrolyte solution was confirmed from ICP‐OES and UV‐Vis results.

Electrochemical and Chemical Instability of Vanadium Nitride in the Synthesis of Ammonia Directly from Nitrogen

Metal- and nitrogen-doped carbon-based hybrid materials (M–N–C) are widely regarded as promising alternative to platinum for catalyzing the oxygen-reduction reaction (ORR) in fuel-cell cathodes. The two important steps involved in the preparation of these catalysts are acid washing and a second heat treatment of the pyrolyzed mixture made of carbon, nitrogen, and metal precursors (M). We have explored in detail the changes induced by the post-treatment steps on structure, composition, and oxygen-reduction activity of new hybrid catalysts prepared by the prolonged pyrolysis of a single well-defined organometallic precursor. The marginal increase in nitrogen content, apparent BET surface area, porosity, surface defects, and the higher degree of graphitization positively contribute to the substantial improvement in ORR activity of post-treated catalysts in alkaline solution, whereas this procedure is found to have a weaker influence on the ORR activity in acid solution. The findings from this study suggest that both free and nitrogen-coordinated metal sites, specifically, “Co2N” sites, which are present in the catalyst bulk and protected by the nitrogen-doped graphitic carbon layer, are most likely the active sites in Co–N–C catalysts. Based on these experimental results, we propose a model that will assist in improving the understanding of plausible functioning of these active sites in acid and alkaline solution.

Alex Schechter

Papers

Electrocatalytic activity of nitrogen plasma treated vertically aligned carbon nanotube carpets towards oxygen reduction reaction

NH3-Plasma pre-treated carbon supported active iron–nitrogen catalyst for oxygen reduction in acid and alkaline electrolytes

Improvement of Microbial Electrolysis Cell Activity by Using Anode Based on Combined Plasma-Pretreated Carbon Cloth and Stainless Steel

Electrochemical and Chemical Instability of Vanadium Nitride in the Synthesis of Ammonia Directly from Nitrogen

Unraveling the Oxygen‐Reduction Sites in Graphitic‐Carbon Co–N–C‐Type Electrocatalysts Prepared by Single‐Precursor Pyrolysis