Issue 30, 2020

Suppression of hydrogen evolution at catalytic surfaces in aqueous lithium ion batteries

Abstract

Aqueous lithium ion batteries (ALIBs) have attracted increasing attention due to their excellent safety profile. The water-in-salt electrolyte (WiSE) has enabled a wider voltage window (3.0 V) through the formation of an solid–electrolyte–interphase (SEI) on the anode. However, the cathodic limit of the WiSE and its derivatives cannot effectively support the desired energy-dense anodes, such as Li4Ti5O12 (LTO). At the anode, the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is the main parasitic process that competes with the desired lithiation process therein. We investigated the catalytic activity of different coating layers and postulated the selection criterion for the surface layers. We demonstrated that Al2O3 had a surface that effectively suppressed the HER and enabled the cycling of the LTO anode in the WiSE, thereby delivering a capacity of 145 mA h g−1. Such understanding provides important guidelines for designing electrolytes and interphases for aqueous battery chemistries.

Graphical abstract: Suppression of hydrogen evolution at catalytic surfaces in aqueous lithium ion batteries

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
03 Jun 2020
Accepted
08 Jul 2020
First published
09 Jul 2020

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2020,8, 14921-14926

Author version available

Suppression of hydrogen evolution at catalytic surfaces in aqueous lithium ion batteries

F. Wang, C. Lin, X. Ji, G. W. Rubloff and C. Wang, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2020, 8, 14921 DOI: 10.1039/D0TA05568A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements