Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) offer the possibilities to design solar cells with a large flexibility in shape, color, and transparency. DSC research groups have been established around the worl ...

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Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

In the previous paper Ralph Brodd and Martin Winter described the different kinds of batteries and fuel cells. In this paper I will describe lithium batteries in more detail, building an overall foundation for the papers that follow which describe specific components in some depth and usually with an emphasis on the materials behavior. The lithium battery industry is undergoing rapid expansion, now representing the largest segment of the portable battery industry and dominating the computer, cell phone, and camera power source industry. However, the present secondary batteries use expensive components, which are not in sufficient supply to allow the industry to grow at the same rate in the next decade. Moreover, the safety of the system is questionable for the large-scale batteries needed for hybrid electric vehicles (HEV). Another battery need is for a high-power system that can be used for power tools, where only the environmentally hazardous Ni/ Cd battery presently meets the requirements. A battery is a transducer that converts chemical energy into electrical energy and vice versa. It contains an anode, a cathode, and an electrolyte. The anode, in the case of a lithium battery, is the source of lithium ions. The cathode is the sink for the lithium ions and is chosen to optimize a number of parameters, discussed below. The electrolyte provides for the separation of ionic transport and electronic transport, and in a perfect battery the lithium ion transport number will be unity in the electrolyte. The cell potential is determined by the difference between the chemical potential of the lithium in the anode and cathode, ∆G ) -EF. As noted above, the lithium ions flow through the electrolyte whereas the electrons generated from the reaction, Li ) Li+ + e-, go through the external circuit to do work. Thus, the electrode system must allow for the flow of both lithium ions and electrons. That is, it must be both a good ionic conductor and an electronic conductor. As discussed below, many electrochemically active materials are not good electronic conductors, so it is necessary to add an electronically conductive material such as carbon * To whom correspondence should be addressed. Phone and fax: (607) 777-4623. E-mail: stanwhit@binghamton.edu. 4271 Chem. Rev. 2004, 104, 4271−4301

http://www.chemie.uni-regensburg.de/Anorganische_Chemie/Vortrag/StudentenWS06-07/Vortrag_Amereller.pdf

Lithium Batteries and Cathode Materials

Research Development on Sodium-Ion Batteries

Electrochemical energy storage technology is based on devices capable of exhibiting high energy density (batteries) or high power density (electrochemical capacitors). There is a growing need, for current and near-future applications, where both high energy and high power densities are required in the same material. Pseudocapacitance, a faradaic process involving surface or near surface redox reactions, offers a means of achieving high energy density at high charge–discharge rates. Here, we focus on the pseudocapacitive properties of transition metal oxides. First, we introduce pseudocapacitance and describe its electrochemical features. Then, we review the most relevant pseudocapacitive materials in aqueous and non-aqueous electrolytes. The major challenges for pseudocapacitive materials along with a future outlook are detailed at the end.

https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01171774/document

Pseudocapacitive oxide materials for high-rate electrochemical energy storage

The status of ambient temperature sodium ion batteries is reviewed in light of recent developments in anode, electrolyte and cathode materials. These devices, although early in their stage of development, are promising for large-scale grid storage applications due to the abundance and very low cost of sodium-containing precursors used to make the components. The engineering knowledge developed recently for highly successful Li ion batteries can be leveraged to ensure rapid progress in this area, although different electrode materials and electrolytes will be required for dual intercalation systems based on sodium. In particular, new anode materials need to be identified, since the graphite anode, commonly used in lithium systems, does not intercalate sodium to any appreciable extent. A wider array of choices is available for cathodes, including high performance layered transition metal oxides and polyanionic compounds. Recent developments in electrodes are encouraging, but a great deal of research is necessary, particularly in new electrolytes, and the understanding of the SEI films. The engineering modeling calculations of Na-ion battery energy density indicate that 210 Wh kg−1 in gravimetric energy is possible for Na-ion batteries compared to existing Li-ion technology if a cathode capacity of 200 mAh g−1 and a 500 mAh g−1 anode can be discovered with an average cell potential of 3.3 V.

Sodium‐Ion Batteries

A new synthetic route to poly-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (PEDT) with a conductivity exceeding 1000 S/cm is described. The method is based on base-inhibited vapor-phase polymerization, where a surface covered with ferric p-toluenesulfonate as oxidant mixed with a volatile base (pyridine) is exposed to 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDT) vapors. The base is added to suppress an acid-initiated polymerization of EDT, leading to a product with little or no conjugation. The product of the base-inhibited vapor-phase polymerization is confirmed to be virtually identical to PEDT obtained by wet chemical oxidation by both spectroscopic and electrochemical methods. A possible reaction scheme for the acid-initiated polymerization is discussed.

Vapor-Phase Polymerization of 3,4-Ethylenedioxythiophene: A Route to Highly Conducting Polymer Surface Layers

Diffusion impedance in planar, cylindrical and spherical symmetry

Conducting polymers expand or contract when their redox state is changed. This expansion/contraction effect can be separated in an intrinsic part because of changes of the polymer backbone on reduction/oxidation and a part depending on the surrounding electrolyte phase, because of osmotic expansion of the polymer phase. The osmotic effect causes solvent molecules to move into the polymer in a number far in excess of those bound strongly in the solvation shell of the mobile ion, resulting in large volume changes. In this paper, a thermodynamic description of the osmotic expansion is worked out. The model is compared with measurements on PPy(DBS) films. The experiments show that the expansion decreases as the electrolyte concentration is increased. This means that a considerable part of the total expansion is due to the osmotic effect. The osmotic effect should be taken into account when interpreting and designing actuator experiments and when comparing experimental results from different sources.

Mechanism of Actuation in Conducting Polymers: Osmotic Expansion

Lithium insertion in different TiO2 modifications

Battery systems based on alkali metal anodes and solid solution cathodes,i.e., cathodes based on the insertion of the alkali cation in a "host lattice," show considerable promise for high energy density storage batteries. This paper discusses the interaction between battery requirements, in particular for vehicle propulsion, and electrochemical and constructional factors. It is argued that the energy obtainable at a given load is limited by saturation of the surface layers of cathode particles with cations, and that the time before saturation occurs is determined by diffusion of cations and electrons into the host lattice. Expressions are developed for plane, cylindrical, and spherical particles, giving the relation between battery load and the amount of cathode material utilized before saturation. The particle shape and a single parameter is used to describe cathode performance. is the ratio between discharge time at 100% utilization of the cathode at the given load, and the time constant for diffusion through the cathode particles. This description is extended to cover short peak loads characteristic of vehicle propulsion. On the basis of estimated parameters for the couple with electrolyte the properties of plane cathodes or cathodes consisting of few layers of particles are examined in relation to traction requirements. In this context limiting currents in the electrolyte phase are discussed, and a relation between the maximal allowed values for particle size and electrode spacing is derived. For nonporous electrodes the limiting factor is cathode surface saturation. A qualitative discussion of porous cathodes indicates that the cathode thickness, and thus the over‐all specific energy, is limited by cation transport in the pore electrolyte when the cation diffusion coefficient in the solid exceeds 10−10 cm2 sec−1. On the basis of an approximate relation between cathode thickness and electrode spacing the specific energy for the system with organic electrolyte is estimated to be 120–150 W‐hr/kg in agreement with published values.

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Keld West

Papers

Vapor-Phase Polymerization of 3,4-Ethylenedioxythiophene: A Route to Highly Conducting Polymer Surface Layers

Diffusion impedance in planar, cylindrical and spherical symmetry

Mechanism of Actuation in Conducting Polymers: Osmotic Expansion

Lithium insertion in different TiO2 modifications

Dynamic Aspects of Solid Solution Cathodes for Electrochemical Power Sources