Significant progress in lithium-air battery development
2021-05-06
(Press-News.org) Research led by the University of Liverpool, in partnership with Johnson Matthey PLC and Loughborough University is making significant progress in the development of stable and practical electrolytes for lithium-oxygen batteries.
The lithium-oxygen (Li-O2) battery (or lithium-air battery), consisting of Li-metal and a porous conductive framework as its electrode's releases energy from the reaction of oxygen from the air and lithium. The technology is in its infancy, but in theory could provide much greater energy storage than the conventional lithium-ion battery.
In a paper published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, Professor Laurence Hardwick from the University of Liverpool's Stephenson Institute for Renewable Energy (SIRE) and colleagues meticulously characterised and developed electrolyte formulations that significantly minimises side reactions within the battery to enable improved longer cycle stability.
According to lead author of the paper, Dr Alex Neale who is also with SIRE, the research demonstrates that the reactivity of certain electrolyte components can be switched off by precise control of component ratios.
Dr Neale said: "The ability to precisely formulate the electrolyte using readily-available, low volatility components enabled us to specially tailor an electrolyte for the needs of metal-air battery technology that delivered greatly improved cycle stability and functionality."
"The outcomes from our study really show that by understanding the precise coordination environment of the lithium ion within our electrolytes, we can link this directly to achieving significant gains in electrolyte stability at the Li metal electrode interface and, consequently, enhancements in actual cell performance."
Dr Pooja Goddard, from Loughborough University's Department of Chemistry, said: "It was exciting to see through the use of both calculations and experimental data we were able to identify the key physical parameters that enabled the formulations to become stable against the lithium metal electrode interface."
The designed electrolytes provide new benchmark formulations that will support ongoing investigations within our research groups to understand and develop new, and practically viable, cathode architectures to reduce round-trip inefficiencies and further extend cycle lifetimes.
Enrico Petrucco, from Johnson Matthey PLC, said: "This work exemplifies a useful electrolyte design strategy for Li-air batteries underpinned with excellent science within a great collaboration. This moves us another step closer towards practical routes to overcome complex Li-air challenges."
The collaborative research between the two University research groups in Liverpool and Loughborough and Johnson Matthey PLC was made possible by support from an Innovate UK Grant that enables industry and academia to work together to tackle technology focused research challenges.
INFORMATION:
The research has benefited from battery research and characterisation facilities at the Stephenson institute for Renewable Energy, University of Liverpool, the Imaging Centre at Liverpool and the EPSRC National Facility for X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy ("HarwellXPS").
The paper ' Design Parameters for Ionic Liquid - Molecular Solvent Blend Electrolytes to Enable Stable Li Metal Cycling Within Li-O2 Batteries' (doi: 10.1002/adfm.202010627) is published in Advanced Functional Materials.
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2021-05-06
Half of the Danish population have overweight, while 17 percent live with obesity. Worldwide, almost 40 procent have overweight and 13 procent live with obesity.
The condition is associated with increased risk for early death, as well as sequelae such as Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and infertility.
Weight regain after an initial successful weight loss in people with obesity, constitutes an important and unsolved problem. Until now, no well-documented study on which treatment method is best for maintaining a healthy weight loss has been available.
Researchers at University of Copenhagen and Hvidovre Hospital have completed ...
2021-05-06
Oxygen is essential for the development of higher life. However, it was hardly present in the oceans of the young Earth. It was not until the evolution of photosynthetic bacteria that the oceans saw a significant increase in oxygen levels. By measuring tungsten isotope composition, an international research team with the participation of scientists from the University of Cologne's Institute of Geology and Mineralogy has now laid the foundation for a more precise determination of the development of oxygen levels in the early oceans over time. Prospectively, they expect more precise insights into the evolution of life. In cooperation with scientists from ETH Zurich, the Universities of Bern and Tübingen, and the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research ...
2021-05-06
Research conducted by the University of Birmingham shows in order to have an effective Covid-19 vaccination rollout it has to be widely accepted by the entire population.
The study, conducted in collaboration with the NIHR Clinical Research Network West Midlands and The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust was published in the journal Trials involved an anonymous cross-sectional online survey across the UK involving 4884 participants of which 9.44% were Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME). Overall, 2020 (41.4%) respondents were interested in participating in vaccine trials, while 27.6% of the respondents were not interested and 31.1% were unsure. The most interested groups were male, graduates the 40-49 and 50-59 age groups ...
2021-05-06
a Photocatalytic biomass conversion is an ideal way of generating syngas (H2 and CO) via C-C bond cleavage, which is initiated by hydrogen abstraction of O/C-H bond. However, the lack of efficient electron-proton transfer limits its efficiency. Conversional gasification of biomass into syngas needs to be operated at high temperature (400-700 °C).
Recently, a group led by Prof. WANG Feng from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), in collaboration with Prof. WANG Min from Dalian University of Technology, proposed a new method to realize photocatalytic conversion of biopolyols to syngas at room temperature with high efficiency.
This study was published in Journal of the American Chemical ...
2021-05-06
The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT) has announced the development of a fully-automated peak-picking method for cable monitoring. The developed method will improve reliability of the method. Such as Incheon Bridge in South Korea, Cable-stayed bridges have received significant attention as efficient structural systems worldwide. In this regard, newly developed cable monitoring systems have become an essential and efficient maintenance approach for cable-stayed bridges. As structural integrity for stay-cables, tension force and damping ratio have been widely utilized as efficient metrics.
A research team in KICT, led by Dr. Seung-Seop Jin, has developed a fully-automated peak-picking ...
2021-05-06
Moderate alcohol intake--defined as no more than one alcoholic drink for women and two for men per day--has been associated with a lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease when compared with individuals who abstain from drinking or partake in excessive drinking, according to a new study being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 70th Annual Scientific Session. It's also the first study to show that drinking moderate amounts of alcohol may be heart protective, in part, by reducing stress-related brain signals based on a subset of patients who underwent brain imaging.
"We found that stress-related activity in the brain was higher in non-drinkers ...
2021-05-06
Nearly 1 in 5 adults with high blood pressure, a leading risk factor for heart disease and stroke, also take a medicine that could be elevating their blood pressure, according to new research presented at the American College of Cardiology's 70th Annual Scientific Session. The results underscore the need for patients to routinely review all of the medications they take with their care team, including those available over the counter, to make sure none could be interfering with blood pressure lowering efforts.
Which are the most likely culprits? Based on the study findings, the three most common classes of medications were antidepressants; nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that include ibuprofen and naproxen; and oral ...
2021-05-06
Among younger adults visiting the emergency department for chest pain, women may be getting the short end of the stick. Compared with men of similar age, women were triaged less urgently, waited longer to be seen, and were less likely to undergo basic tests or be hospitalized or admitted for observation to diagnose a heart attack, according to new research being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 70th Annual Scientific Session.
The study is the first to examine emergency room management of chest pain specifically among younger adults (age 18-55 years). Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women and is becoming more common in younger adults. About one-third of women who were hospitalized ...
2021-05-06
Young and middle-aged adults who reported severe psychological distress--such as depression or anxiety--after suffering a heart attack were more than twice as likely to suffer a second cardiac event within five years compared with those experiencing only mild distress, according to a study presented at the American College of Cardiology's 70th Annual Scientific Session.
The study is the first to comprehensively assess how mental health influences the outlook for younger heart attack survivors, according to the researchers. The researchers also tracked ...
2021-05-06
Social factors such as education, financial stability, food security and the neighborhood where someone resides were strongly correlated with whether or not individuals with heart disease adopted measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including wearing masks and working from home, according to a study presented at the American College of Cardiology's 70th Annual Scientific Session. The researchers say the findings draw attention to longstanding challenges related to social determinants of health.
"Unless we look at COVID-19 through the lens of social determinants of health, we may not optimize our yield from interventions, and we might not be reaching ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Significant progress in lithium-air battery development
