Issue 8, 2011
From the journal:

Energy & Environmental Science

The discharge rate capability of rechargeable Li–O2 batteries†

Yi-Chun Lu,‡a   David G. Kwabi,‡b   Koffi P. C. Yao,b   Jonathon R. Harding,c   Jigang Zhou,d   Lucia Zuind  and  Yang Shao-Horn*ab  

* Corresponding authors

a Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, USA
E-mail: shaohorn@mit.edu

b Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, USA

c Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, USA

d Canadian Light Source Inc, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada

Abstract

The O2electrode in Li–O2cells was shown to exhibit gravimetric energy densities (considering the total weight of oxygen electrode in the discharged state) four times that of LiCoO2 with comparable gravimetric power. The discharge rate capability of Au-catalyzed Vulcan carbon and pure Vulcan carbon (VC) as the O2electrode was studied in the range of 100 to 2000 mA gcarbon−1. The discharge voltage and capacity of the Li−O2 cells were shown to decrease with increasing rates. Unlike propylene carbonate based electrolytes, the rate capability of Li−O2 cells tested with 1,2-dimethoxyethane was found not to be limited by oxygen transport in the electrolyte. X-Ray diffraction (XRD) showed lithium peroxide as the discharge product and no evidence of Li2CO3 and LiOH was found. It is hypothesized that higher discharge voltages of cells with Au/C than VC at low rates could have originated from higher oxygen reduction activity of Au/C. At high rates, higher discharge voltages with Au/C than VC could be attributed to faster lithium transport in nonstoichiometric and defective lithium peroxide formed upon discharge, which is supported by XRD and X-ray absorption near edge structure O and Li K edge data.

Graphical abstract: The discharge rate capability of rechargeable Li–O2 batteries

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Article information

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/C1EE01500A
Article type
Paper
Submitted
20 Apr 2011
Accepted
24 May 2011
First published
04 Jul 2011

Energy Environ. Sci., 2011,4, 2999-3007

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The discharge rate capability of rechargeable Li–O2 batteries

Y. Lu, D. G. Kwabi, K. P. C. Yao, J. R. Harding, J. Zhou, L. Zuin and Y. Shao-Horn, Energy Environ. Sci., 2011, 4, 2999 DOI: 10.1039/C1EE01500A

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