Mechanical Degradation Behavior of Single Crystal LiNixMnyCozO2 Cathode in Li-ion Battery by Indentation Analysis

LiNixMnyCozO2 (NMC) is among the most promising cathode materials for commercial Li-ion batteries due to its high electrochemical performance. However, NMC composite cathode is still plagued with limited cyclic performance, which is influenced by its structural stability during the cycling process. The cathode, which comprises of the active material, polymeric binder, and porous conductive matrix, often exhibits large structural variation during the electrochemical cycling process. This inevitably increases the challenge of measuring the mechanical properties of the material. Even though single crystal NMC possesses better stability as compared to the polycrystalline NMC, the electrochemical performance degradation of single crystal NMC cathode remains relatively unexplored. Different sample preparation methods are compared systematically in accordance to the previous report, and a new method of sample preparation is proposed. Nanoindentation instrument is used to measure the elastic modulus and hardness of the single crystal NMC particles. The measured elastic modulus and hardness of NMC particles, under different electrochemical environments, are dependent on a large number of nanoindentation experiments and statistical analysis of the result obtained from the carefully prepared samples. The sample preparation method is the key factor that can significantly influence the nanoindentation experiment results of the NMC particles. This work shows that the mechanical properties of the single crystal NMC particles degrade significantly with number of electrochemical cycles. The decreasing elastic modulus with the number of electrochemical cycles can be fitted using a two-parameter logarithm model.

Waste-honeycomb-derived in situ N-doped Hierarchical porous carbon as sulfur host in lithium–sulfur battery

Waste honeycomb derived porous carbon with a high specific surface area of 1683.6 m2 g−1 are prepared via a facile simultaneous activation/carbonization. The corresponding porous carbon/sulfur composite cathode exhibits a durable stable performance up to 500 cycles at 1 C.

Study of ion separation mechanism in the multi-component vacuum arc discharge

The separation phenomenon of light and heavy ions was widely observed experimentally in the vacuum arc discharge with multi-component composite cathode. In this work, a two-dimensional axisymmetric multi-fluid model is used to study the separation mechanism in the multi-component composite cathode vacuum arc. The multi-component vacuum arcs are simulated as a whole which includes separate cathode spot jets, the mixing region, and common arc column. The results show that the plasma jets originated from the separate cathode spot mix together to form a common arc column after a certain distance from the cathode. Due to the rapid increase of ion temperature dozens of times in mixing region of cathode spot jet, the effect of pressure gradient becomes far greater than that of the collisions between light and heavy ions. This leads to a shift in the predominant ion motion mechanism from ion-ion collision (single cathode spot jet region) to pressure expansion (the mixing region). Finally, the light ions gain higher velocities under pressure expansion. In addition, the effect of thermal conductivity and viscosity leads to the wider high temperature regions for light ions, thus making a wider distribution of corresponding ion flux. The numerical results are qualitatively consistent with the experimental results. This paper provides an insight into ion separation mechanism in the multi-component vacuum arc.

Multiscale Understanding of High-Energy Cathodes in Solid-State Batteries: from Atomic Scale to Macroscopic Scale

In the crucial area of sustainable energy storage, solid-state batteries (SSBs) with nonflammable solid electrolytes stand out due to their potential benefits of enhanced safety, energy density, and cycle life. However, the complexity within the composite cathode determines that fabricating an ideal electrode needs to link chemistry (atomic scale), materials (microscopic/mesoscopic scale), and electrode system (macroscopic scale). Therefore, understiang solid-state composite cathodes covering multiple scales is of vital importance for the development of practical SSBs. In this review, the challenges and basic knowledge of composite cathodes from the atomic scale to the macroscopic scale in SSBs are outlined with a special focus on the interfacial structure, charge transport, and mechanical degradation. Based on these dilemmas, emerging strategies to design a high-performance composite cathode and advanced characterization techniques are summarized. Moreover, future perspectives toward composite cathodes are discussed, aiming to facilitate the develop energy-dense solid-state batteries.

BiFeO3 Coupled Polysulfide Trapping in C/S Composite Cathode Material for Li-S Batteries as Large Efficiency and High Rate Performance

We demonstrated the efficient coupling of BiFeO3 (BFO) ferroelectric material within the carbon–sulfur (C-S) composite cathode, where polysulfides are trapped in BFO mesh, reducing the polysulfide shuttle impact, and thus resulting in an improved cyclic performance and an increase in capacity in Li-S batteries. Here, the built-in internal field due to BFO enhances polysulfide trapping. The observation of a difference in the diffusion behavior of polysulfides in BFO-coupled composites suggests more efficient trapping in BFO-modified C-S electrodes compared to pristine C-S composite cathodes. The X-ray diffraction results of BFO–C-S composite cathodes show an orthorhombic structure, while Raman spectra substantiate efficient coupling of BFO in C-S composites, in agreement with SEM images, showing the interconnected network of submicron-size sulfur composites. Two plateaus were observed at 1.75 V and 2.1 V in the charge/discharge characteristics of BFO–C-S composite cathodes. The observed capacity of ~1600 mAh g−1 in a 1.5–2.5 V operating window for BFO30-C10-S60 composite cathodes, and the high cyclic stability substantiate the superior performance of the designed cathode materials due to the efficient reduction in the polysulfide shuttle effect in these composite cathodes.

Investigation of the Chemical Composition of Films Obtained by Electric Arc Spraying of Graphite and Titanium from Two Sources

A promising material for cold cathodes creation are carbon films with both acceptable emission properties and satisfactory adhesion to the substrate. It is known that inclusions of metallic elements (chromium, titanium, etc.) improve the adhesion of the carbon film to the substrate. One of the methods for producing coatings based on carbon and titanium is electric arc spraying of a Ti/C composite cathode in an argon atmosphere. The disadvantage of this method is the presence in the total plasma flow of carbon microparticles, which are sources of structural defects in the growing film. Magnetic separation of carbon plasma solves the above problem. In this work, composite metal-carbon films were obtained by simultaneous electric arc spraying of graphite in a magnetic field and of titanium from two evaporators. The composition of the films was studied by Raman spectroscopy (RS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). It has been established that the samples obtained are composite films consisting of graphite nanoparticles, Ti14C13 nanoclusters or Ti8C12, titanium oxides, and titanium carbide TiCxN1–x compounds.