Understanding the
Non-aqueous Lithium-air Battery
Stefan A. Freunberger1, Zhangquan Peng1,
Laurence J. Hardwick1, Yuhui Chen1,
Nicholas E. Drewett1, Fanny Barde2 and
Peter G. Bruce1
1
School of Chemistry, University of St Andrews, St
Andrews, KY16 9SS, UK
2
Toyota Motor Europe, Zaventum, Belgium
The lithium-air battery is generating a great deal
of interest because theoretically it possesses a specific
energy 5-10 times that of a conventional Li-ion battery [14]. Specific energies and energy densities more than
double those of today’s Li-ion batteries are required to
extend the range of electric vehicles to 500 km and
beyond. A typical non-aqueous lithium-air battery, widely
reported in the literature, consists of a lithium anode, an
alkyl carbonate based electrode, (e.g. LiPF6 in propylene
carbonate) and a porous cathode (composed of carbon
black, a catalyst and binder), Figure 1. On discharge, O2
from the atmosphere enters the porous cathode, where it is
reduced forming a solid product that can be oxidised upon
charging.
The Li-air battery is far from a practical
technology; there are many hurdles to be overcome if it is
ever to realize, even in part, its potential as an energy
storage device. Such hurdles include; the voltage gap
(charging potential greater than discharge), cyclability,
rate capability and lifetime [3, 5-9].
Figure 1. Schematic representation of a rechargeable Liair battery.
Although important progress has been made, it
became clear that to tackle the hurdles it was necessary to
understand the chemical and electrochemical reactions
occurring within the cell [8, 10-12].
We shall discuss the results obtained from our
studies of the reactions taking place in the cell, focussing
especially on those associated with the cathode revealed
through a combination of electrochemical, in and ex situ
spectroscopic measurements.
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