Donald R. Sadoway

Bio: Donald R. Sadoway is an academic researcher from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The author has contributed to research in topics: Electrolyte & Anode. The author has an hindex of 52, co-authored 199 publications receiving 8230 citations. Previous affiliations of Donald R. Sadoway include Total S.A. & University of Toronto.

Identification of cathode materials for lithium batteries guided by first-principles calculations

Abstract: Lithium batteries have the highest energy density of all rechargeable batteries and are favoured in applications where low weight or small volume are desired — for example, laptop computers, cellular telephones and electric vehicles1. One of the limitations of present commercial lithium batteries is the high cost of the LiCoO2 cathode material. Searches for a replacement material that, like LiCoO2, intercalates lithium ions reversibly have covered most of the known lithium/transition-metal oxides, but the number of possible mixtures of these2,3,4,5 is almost limitless, making an empirical search labourious and expensive. Here we show that first-principles calculations can instead direct the search for possible cathode materials. Through such calculations we identify a large class of new candidate materials in which non-transition metals are substituted for transition metals. The replacement with non-transition metals is driven by the realization that oxygen, rather than transition-metal ions, function as the electron acceptor upon insertion of Li. For one such material, Li(Co,Al)O2, we predict and verify experimentally that aluminium substitution raises the cell voltage while decreasing both the density of the material and its cost.

TEM Study of Electrochemical Cycling‐Induced Damage and Disorder in LiCoO2 Cathodes for Rechargeable Lithium Batteries

Abstract: Among lithium transition metal oxides used as intercalation electrodes for rechargeable lithium batteries, LiCoO{sub 2} is considered to be the most stable in the {alpha}-NaFeO{sub 2} structure type. It has previously been believed that cation ordering is unaffected by repeated electrochemical removal and insertion. The authors have conducted direct observations, at the particle scale, of damage and cation disorder induced in LiCoO{sub 2} cathodes by electrochemical cycling. Using transmission electron microscopy imaging and electron diffraction, it was found that (1) individual LiCoO{sub 2} particles in a cathode cycled from 1.5 to 4.35 V against a Li anode are subject to widely varying degrees of damage; (2) cycling induces severe strain, high defect densities, and occasional fracture of particles; and (3) severely strained particles exhibit two types of cation disorder, defects on octahedral site layers (including cation substitutions and vacancies) as well as a partial transformation to spinel tetrahedral site ordering. The damage and cation disorder are localized and have not been detected by conventional bulk characterization techniques such as X-ray or neutron diffraction. Cumulative damage of this nature may be responsible for property degradation during overcharging or in long-term cycling of LiCoO{sub 2}-based rechargeable lithium batteries.

Lithium–antimony–lead liquid metal battery for grid-level energy storage

Abstract: All-liquid batteries comprising a lithium negative electrode and an antimony–lead positive electrode have a higher current density and a longer cycle life than conventional batteries, can be more easily used to make large-scale storage systems, and so potentially present a low-cost means of grid-level energy storage. The integration of batteries into the electric grid is seen as possible means of regulating energy supply from intermittent sources such as wind or solar, but today's battery technologies are too expensive to do the job. An all-liquid battery, comprising a liquid negative electrode, a molten salt electrolyte, and a liquid positive electrode, is one of the technologies being investigated for this role. Here Kangli Wang and colleagues describe a new variant of the concept — an all-liquid Li||Sb–Pb battery — that, through careful choice and alloying of the component electrode materials, reduces operating temperatures and hence potential cost while retaining desirable performance characteristics. The ability to store energy on the electric grid would greatly improve its efficiency and reliability while enabling the integration of intermittent renewable energy technologies (such as wind and solar) into baseload supply1,2,3,4. Batteries have long been considered strong candidate solutions owing to their small spatial footprint, mechanical simplicity and flexibility in siting. However, the barrier to widespread adoption of batteries is their high cost. Here we describe a lithium–antimony–lead liquid metal battery that potentially meets the performance specifications for stationary energy storage applications. This Li||Sb–Pb battery comprises a liquid lithium negative electrode, a molten salt electrolyte, and a liquid antimony–lead alloy positive electrode, which self-segregate by density into three distinct layers owing to the immiscibility of the contiguous salt and metal phases. The all-liquid construction confers the advantages of higher current density, longer cycle life and simpler manufacturing of large-scale storage systems (because no membranes or separators are involved) relative to those of conventional batteries5,6. At charge–discharge current densities of 275 milliamperes per square centimetre, the cells cycled at 450 degrees Celsius with 98 per cent Coulombic efficiency and 73 per cent round-trip energy efficiency. To provide evidence of their high power capability, the cells were discharged and charged at current densities as high as 1,000 milliamperes per square centimetre. Measured capacity loss after operation for 1,800 hours (more than 450 charge–discharge cycles at 100 per cent depth of discharge) projects retention of over 85 per cent of initial capacity after ten years of daily cycling. Our results demonstrate that alloying a high-melting-point, high-voltage metal (antimony) with a low-melting-point, low-cost metal (lead) advantageously decreases the operating temperature while maintaining a high cell voltage. Apart from the fact that this finding puts us on a desirable cost trajectory, this approach may well be more broadly applicable to other battery chemistries.

Rubbery Block Copolymer Electrolytes for Solid‐State Rechargeable Lithium Batteries

Abstract: For nearly 20 years, poly(ethylene oxide)-based materials have been researched for use as electrolytes in solid-state rechargeab le lithium batteries. Technical obstacles to commercialization derive from the inability to satisfy simultaneously the electrical and mechanical performance requirements: high ionic conductivity along with resistance to flow. Herein, the synthesis and characterization of a series of poly(lauryl methacrylate)- b-poly[oligo(oxyethylene) methacrylate]-based block copolymer electrolytes (BCEs) are reported. With both blocks in the rubbery state (i.e., having glass transition temperatures well below room temperatu re) these materials exhibit improved conductivities over those of glassy-rubbery block copolymer systems. Dynamic rheological testing verifies that these materials are dimensionally stable, whereas cyclic voltammetry shows them to be electrochemically stable over a wide potential window, i.e., up to 5 V at 55 8C. A solid-state rechargeable lithium battery was constructed by laminating lithium metal, BCE, and a composite cathode composed of particles of LiAl0.25Mn0.75O2 (monoclinic), carbon black, and graphite in a BCE binder. Cycle testing showed the Li/BCE/LiAl0.25Mn0.75O2 battery to have a high reversible capacity and good capacity

Phd by thesis

Abstract: Deposits of clastic carbonate-dominated (calciclastic) sedimentary slope systems in the rock record have been identified mostly as linearly-consistent carbonate apron deposits, even though most ancient clastic carbonate slope deposits fit the submarine fan systems better. Calciclastic submarine fans are consequently rarely described and are poorly understood. Subsequently, very little is known especially in mud-dominated calciclastic submarine fan systems. Presented in this study are a sedimentological core and petrographic characterisation of samples from eleven boreholes from the Lower Carboniferous of Bowland Basin (Northwest England) that reveals a >250 m thick calciturbidite complex deposited in a calciclastic submarine fan setting. Seven facies are recognised from core and thin section characterisation and are grouped into three carbonate turbidite sequences. They include: 1) Calciturbidites, comprising mostly of highto low-density, wavy-laminated bioclast-rich facies; 2) low-density densite mudstones which are characterised by planar laminated and unlaminated muddominated facies; and 3) Calcidebrites which are muddy or hyper-concentrated debrisflow deposits occurring as poorly-sorted, chaotic, mud-supported floatstones. These

Li-ion battery materials: present and future

Abstract: This review covers key technological developments and scientific challenges for a broad range of Li-ion battery electrodes. Periodic table and potential/capacity plots are used to compare many families of suitable materials. Performance characteristics, current limitations, and recent breakthroughs in the development of commercial intercalation materials such as lithium cobalt oxide (LCO), lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide (NCM), lithium nickel cobalt aluminum oxide (NCA), lithium iron phosphate (LFP), lithium titanium oxide (LTO) and others are contrasted with that of conversion materials, such as alloying anodes (Si, Ge, Sn, etc.), chalcogenides (S, Se, Te), and metal halides (F, Cl, Br, I). New polyanion cathode materials are also discussed. The cost, abundance, safety, Li and electron transport, volumetric expansion, material dissolution, and surface reactions for each type of electrode materials are described. Both general and specific strategies to overcome the current challenges are covered and categorized.

Toward Safe Lithium Metal Anode in Rechargeable Batteries: A Review.

Abstract: The lithium metal battery is strongly considered to be one of the most promising candidates for high-energy-density energy storage devices in our modern and technology-based society. However, uncontrollable lithium dendrite growth induces poor cycling efficiency and severe safety concerns, dragging lithium metal batteries out of practical applications. This review presents a comprehensive overview of the lithium metal anode and its dendritic lithium growth. First, the working principles and technical challenges of a lithium metal anode are underscored. Specific attention is paid to the mechanistic understandings and quantitative models for solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) formation, lithium dendrite nucleation, and growth. On the basis of previous theoretical understanding and analysis, recently proposed strategies to suppress dendrite growth of lithium metal anode and some other metal anodes are reviewed. A section dedicated to the potential of full-cell lithium metal batteries for practical applicatio...

Lithium metal anodes for rechargeable batteries

Abstract: Lithium (Li) metal is an ideal anode material for rechargeable batteries due to its extremely high theoretical specific capacity (3860 mA h g−1), low density (0.59 g cm−3) and the lowest negative electrochemical potential (−3.040 V vs. the standard hydrogen electrode). Unfortunately, uncontrollable dendritic Li growth and limited Coulombic efficiency during Li deposition/stripping inherent in these batteries have prevented their practical applications over the past 40 years. With the emergence of post-Li-ion batteries, safe and efficient operation of Li metal anodes has become an enabling technology which may determine the fate of several promising candidates for the next generation energy storage systems, including rechargeable Li–air batteries, Li–S batteries, and Li metal batteries which utilize intercalation compounds as cathodes. In this paper, various factors that affect the morphology and Coulombic efficiency of Li metal anodes have been analyzed. Technologies utilized to characterize the morphology of Li deposition and the results obtained by modelling of Li dendrite growth have also been reviewed. Finally, recent development and urgent need in this field are discussed.