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Journal ArticleDOI

A comprehensive review on recent progress in aluminum–air batteries

01 Jul 2017-Green Energy & Environment (Elsevier)-Vol. 2, Iss: 3, pp 246-277
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present the fundamentals, challenges and the recent advances in Al-air battery technology from aluminum anode, air cathode and electrocatalysts to electrolytes and inhibitors.
About: This article is published in Green Energy & Environment.The article was published on 2017-07-01 and is currently open access. It has received 246 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Battery (electricity).
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This review is to provide an objective, comprehensive, and authoritative assessment of the intensive work invested in nonaqueous rechargeable metal-air batteries over the past few years, which identified the key problems and guides directions to solve them.
Abstract: The goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C requires a drastic reduction in CO2 emissions across many sectors of the world economy. Batteries are vital to this endeavor, whether used in electric vehicles, to store renewable electricity, or in aviation. Present lithium-ion technologies are preparing the public for this inevitable change, but their maximum theoretical specific capacity presents a limitation. Their high cost is another concern for commercial viability. Metal-air batteries have the highest theoretical energy density of all possible secondary battery technologies and could yield step changes in energy storage, if their practical difficulties could be overcome. The scope of this review is to provide an objective, comprehensive, and authoritative assessment of the intensive work invested in nonaqueous rechargeable metal-air batteries over the past few years, which identified the key problems and guides directions to solve them. We focus primarily on the challenges and outlook for Li-O2 cells but include Na-O2, K-O2, and Mg-O2 cells for comparison. Our review highlights the interdisciplinary nature of this field that involves a combination of materials chemistry, electrochemistry, computation, microscopy, spectroscopy, and surface science. The mechanisms of O2 reduction and evolution are considered in the light of recent findings, along with developments in positive and negative electrodes, electrolytes, electrocatalysis on surfaces and in solution, and the degradative effect of singlet oxygen, which is typically formed in Li-O2 cells.

501 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a review of plant biomaterials as metals corrosion inhibitor in different corrosive media is presented, including acidic, basic, neutral, aqueous, geothermal fluid and artificial saliva.

165 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This work investigates the interphases formed on metallic Al in contact with ionic liquid (IL)–eutectic electrolytes and finds that artificial solid electrolyte interphasing formed spontaneously on the metal permanently transform its interfacial chemistry.
Abstract: Electrochemical cells based on aluminum (Al) are of long-standing interest because Al is earth abundant, low cost, and chemically inert. The trivalent Al 3+ ions also offer among the highest volume-specific charge storage capacities (8040 mAh cm −3 ), approximately four times larger than achievable for Li metal anodes. Rapid and irreversible formation of a high-electrical bandgap passivating Al 2 O 3 oxide film on Al have, to date, frustrated all efforts to create aqueous Al-based electrochemical cells with high reversibility. Here, we investigate the interphases formed on metallic Al in contact with ionic liquid (IL)–eutectic electrolytes and find that artificial solid electrolyte interphases (ASEIs) formed spontaneously on the metal permanently transform its interfacial chemistry. The resultant IL-ASEIs are further shown to enable aqueous Al electrochemical cells with unprecedented reversibility. As an illustration of the potential benefits of these interphases, we create simple Al||MnO 2 aqueous cells and report that they provide high specific energy (approximately 500 Wh/kg, based on MnO 2 mass in the cathode) and intrinsic safety features required for applications.

157 citations


Cites background from "A comprehensive review on recent pr..."

  • ...Conventional wisdom holds that corrosive electrolytes such as AlCl3-[EMIm]Cl (5) or alkali (NaOH) (7) are effective in Al batteries because they erode the passivating oxide film....

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  • ...As a consequence, until recently, most Al cells, such as Al-air (7) and Al-S (8) batteries, could not be recharged in aqueous media....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The constraints for a sustainable and seminal battery chemistry are described, and an assessment of the chemical elements in terms of negative electrodes and electrolyte materials are presented, which present a promising path for the accelerated development of novel materials and address problems of scientific communication in this field.
Abstract: The expansion of renewable energy and the growing number of electric vehicles and mobile devices are demanding improved and low-cost electrochemical energy storage. In order to meet the future needs for energy storage, novel material systems with high energy densities, readily available raw materials, and safety are required. Currently, lithium and lead mainly dominate the battery market, but apart from cobalt and phosphorous, lithium may show substantial supply challenges prospectively, as well. Therefore, the search for new chemistries will become increasingly important in the future, to diversify battery technologies. But which materials seem promising? Using a selection algorithm for the evaluation of suitable materials, the concept of a rechargeable, high-valent all-solid-state aluminum-ion battery appears promising, in which metallic aluminum is used as the negative electrode. On the one hand, this offers the advantage of a volumetric capacity four times higher (theoretically) compared to lithium analog. On the other hand, aluminum is the most abundant metal in the earth's crust. There is a mature industry and recycling infrastructure, making aluminum very cost efficient. This would make the aluminum-ion battery an important contribution to the energy transition process, which has already started globally. So far, it has not been possible to exploit this technological potential, as suitable positive electrodes and electrolyte materials are still lacking. The discovery of inorganic materials with high aluminum-ion mobility-usable as solid electrolytes or intercalation electrodes-is an innovative and required leap forward in the field of rechargeable high-valent ion batteries. In this review article, the constraints for a sustainable and seminal battery chemistry are described, and we present an assessment of the chemical elements in terms of negative electrodes, comprehensively motivate utilizing aluminum, categorize the aluminum battery field, critically review the existing positive electrodes and solid electrolytes, present a promising path for the accelerated development of novel materials and address problems of scientific communication in this field.

139 citations


Cites background or result from "A comprehensive review on recent pr..."

  • ...Rechargeable variants were also reported utilizing non-aqueous electrolytes, such as ionic liquids (Liu et al., 2017)....

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  • ...Over the past 30 years, research efforts concerning rechargeable variants have encountered numerous problems, such as electrode material disintegration, low cell discharge voltage, capacitive behavior without discharge voltage plateaus, high self-discharge rate, insufficient cycle life with rapid capacity decay, and lack of rechargeability (Muldoon et al., 2014; Lin et al., 2015; Liu et al., 2017) as well as inconsistent research results (see below and Nestler et al....

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  • ...Thus, corrosion inhibitors have to be added in order to prevent loss of the electrolyte (Liu et al., 2017)....

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  • ...There are several options for potential novel electrolytes (Muldoon et al., 2014; Nestler et al., 2014; Elia et al., 2016; Liu et al., 2017)....

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  • ...A secondary aluminum-ion battery based on pure aluminummetal as negative electrode and an aqueous electrolyte is unfeasible (Liu et al., 2017), because aluminum deposition only occurs at potentials far outside the stability region of water (see Figure 3)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a 2020 battery technology roadmap for renewable energy generation, focusing on various kinds of batteries to store energy, such as lithium-related batteries, sodium-related, zinc-related and aluminum-related.
Abstract: Sun, wind and tides have huge potential in providing us electricity in an environmental-friendly way. However, its intermittency and non-dispatchability are major reasons preventing full-scale adoption of renewable energy generation. Energy storage will enable this adoption by enabling a constant and high-quality electricity supply from these systems. But which storage technology should be considered is one of important issues. Nowadays, great effort has been focused on various kinds of batteries to store energy, lithium-related batteries, sodium-related batteries, zinc-related batteries, aluminum-related batteries and so on. Some cathodes can be used for these batteries, such as sulfur, oxygen, layered compounds. In addition, the construction of these batteries can be changed into flexible, flow or solid-state types. There are many challenges in electrode materials, electrolytes and construction of these batteries and research related to the battery systems for energy storage is extremely active. With the myriad of technologies and their associated technological challenges, we were motivated to assemble this 2020 battery technology roadmap.

133 citations

References
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28,685 citations


"A comprehensive review on recent pr..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Furthermore, Li's group [245] demonstrated a facile strategy to synthesize a novel three-dimensional (3D) graphene aerogel-supported and graphene quantum dots-modified g-MnOOH nanotubes electrocatalyst....

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Journal ArticleDOI
06 Feb 2008-Nature
TL;DR: Researchers must find a sustainable way of providing the power their modern lifestyles demand to ensure the continued existence of clean energy sources.
Abstract: Researchers must find a sustainable way of providing the power our modern lifestyles demand.

15,980 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
18 Nov 2011-Science
TL;DR: The battery systems reviewed here include sodium-sulfur batteries that are commercially available for grid applications, redox-flow batteries that offer low cost, and lithium-ion batteries whose development for commercial electronics and electric vehicles is being applied to grid storage.
Abstract: The increasing interest in energy storage for the grid can be attributed to multiple factors, including the capital costs of managing peak demands, the investments needed for grid reliability, and the integration of renewable energy sources. Although existing energy storage is dominated by pumped hydroelectric, there is the recognition that battery systems can offer a number of high-value opportunities, provided that lower costs can be obtained. The battery systems reviewed here include sodium-sulfur batteries that are commercially available for grid applications, redox-flow batteries that offer low cost, and lithium-ion batteries whose development for commercial electronics and electric vehicles is being applied to grid storage.

11,144 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The energy that can be stored in Li-air and Li-S cells is compared with Li-ion; the operation of the cells is discussed, as are the significant hurdles that will have to be overcome if such batteries are to succeed.
Abstract: Li-ion batteries have transformed portable electronics and will play a key role in the electrification of transport. However, the highest energy storage possible for Li-ion batteries is insufficient for the long-term needs of society, for example, extended-range electric vehicles. To go beyond the horizon of Li-ion batteries is a formidable challenge; there are few options. Here we consider two: Li-air (O(2)) and Li-S. The energy that can be stored in Li-air (based on aqueous or non-aqueous electrolytes) and Li-S cells is compared with Li-ion; the operation of the cells is discussed, as are the significant hurdles that will have to be overcome if such batteries are to succeed. Fundamental scientific advances in understanding the reactions occurring in the cells as well as new materials are key to overcoming these obstacles. The potential benefits of Li-air and Li-S justify the continued research effort that will be needed.

7,895 citations