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Batteries
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Challenges of Batteries in the Post Li-Ion Era
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Challenges of Batteries in the Post Li-Ion Era

A special issue of Batteries (ISSN 2313-0105).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2022) | Viewed by 13607

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Vito Di Noto

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Section of Chemistry for Technology, Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Padua, Via Marzolo 9, 35131 Padova, Italy
Interests: electrolyte and electrode materials for energy conversion and storage devices; anion-exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs); proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs); high-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs); direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs); PEM electrolyzers and redox flow batteries (RFBs); polymer electrolytes and electrode materials for secondary lithium and magnesium batteries (beyond Li batteries); study of the electric response of ion-conducting; electric and dielectric materials by Broadband Electrical Spectroscopy (BES)
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are the most efficient systems for energy conversion and storage available on the market today. At present, they are the solution of choice in portable electronics and automotive applications. Unfortunately, LIBs suffer from several drawbacks such as (i) intrinsic limitations in energy density (today 260 Wh/kg or 680 Wh/L); (ii) high costs of raw materials (i.e., Li and Co) due to their low abundance in the Earth’s crust; and (iii) low safety due to the reactivity and volatility of battery components. In this scenario, an urgent need exists for (i) novel systems employing innovative chemistries; and (ii) advanced lithium batteries. The former includes (i) cheap, abundant, and, preferentially, multivalent metals, such as Na+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Zn2+, and Al3+; and (ii) anionic transport media based on F- and Cl-. The latter comprises novel concepts, materials, and designs for lithium chemistry, e.g., (i) lithium-air; (ii) lithium-sulfur; (iii) silicon or lithium metal anode; (iv) high-voltage cathodes; and (v) all solid-state batteries. This Special Issue of Batteries will cover all the above topics, and also fundamental and applied aspects of polymeric and ceramic materials that can be used for the ionic transport of the mentioned ions.

Contributions can include, but will not be limited to the following:

  • Silicon or lithium metal anode batteries;
  • Lithium-air and lithium-sulfur batteries;
  • Ionic transport in post-Li systems (transport of multivalent ions in solids, computational modeling of ion transport, chemical compatibility and interfaces);
  • High-voltage cathodes;
  • Advanced sodium battery materials (cathodes, anodes, and electrolytes);
  • Novel multivalent metal chemistries for electrochemical energy storage (Mg2+, Ca2+, Zn2+, and Al3+);
  • All solid-state batteries (ceramic and solid polymer electrolytes, interfaces, and nanostructures);
  • Power storage devices (novel designs, geometries, and sensors for monitoring the state of charge, the state of health and the state of function of the battery);
  • Applications of electrochemical engineering.

Prof. Dr. Vito Di Noto
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Batteries is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Beyond Li-ion batteries
  • Li-air batteries
  • Li-S batteries
  • Sodium batteries
  • Batteries based on multivalent metals
  • Solid-state electrolytes
  • Electrode materials
  • Cell fabrication and testing
  • Sensing

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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22 pages, 8571 KiB  
Article
Humidity-Induced Degradation of Lithium-Stabilized Sodium-Beta Alumina Solid Electrolytes
by Micha P. Fertig, Cornelius Dirksen, Matthias Schulz and Michael Stelter
Batteries 2022, 8(9), 103; https://doi.org/10.3390/batteries8090103 - 23 Aug 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3669
Abstract
Sodium-beta alumina is a solid-state electrolyte with outstanding chemical, electrochemical, and mechanical properties. Sodium polyaluminate is successfully employed in established Na–S and Na–NiCl2 cell systems. It is a promising candidate for all-solid-state sodium batteries. However, humidity affects the performance of this solid [...] Read more.
Sodium-beta alumina is a solid-state electrolyte with outstanding chemical, electrochemical, and mechanical properties. Sodium polyaluminate is successfully employed in established Na–S and Na–NiCl2 cell systems. It is a promising candidate for all-solid-state sodium batteries. However, humidity affects the performance of this solid electrolyte. In this work, the effect of humidity on disk-shaped samples of Li-stabilized sodium-beta alumina stored in three different environments is quantified. We used impedance analysis and additional characterizations to investigate the consequences of the occurring degradation, namely ion exchange and subsequent buildup of surface layers. Sodium-beta alumina’s ionic conductivity gradually deteriorates up to two orders of magnitude. This is due to layers developed superficially during storage, while its fracture strength of 240 MPa remains unaffected. Changes in microstructure, composition, and cycle life of Na|BASE|Na cells highlight the importance of proper storage conditions: In just one week of improper storage, the critical current density collapsed from the maximum of 9.1 mA cm−2, one of the highest values reported for sodium-beta alumina, to 1.7 mA cm−2 at 25 °C. The results validate former observations regarding sodium-beta alumina’s moisture sensitivity and suggest how to handle sodium-beta alumina used in electrochemical cell systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges of Batteries in the Post Li-Ion Era)
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13 pages, 4966 KiB  
Article
Solvent-Free Mechanochemical Approach towards Thiospinel MgCr2S4 as a Potential Electrode for Post-Lithium Ion Batteries
by Laura Caggiu, Stefano Enzo, Lorenzo Stievano, Romain Berthelot, Claudio Gerbaldi, Marisa Falco, Sebastiano Garroni and Gabriele Mulas
Batteries 2020, 6(3), 43; https://doi.org/10.3390/batteries6030043 - 24 Aug 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4441
Abstract
Several new compounds, with desirable properties of ion mobility and working voltage, have been recently proposed using a density functional theory (DFT) computational approach as potential electrode materials for beyond-lithium battery systems. After evaluation of the ‘energy above hull’, thiospinel MgCr2S [...] Read more.
Several new compounds, with desirable properties of ion mobility and working voltage, have been recently proposed using a density functional theory (DFT) computational approach as potential electrode materials for beyond-lithium battery systems. After evaluation of the ‘energy above hull’, thiospinel MgCr2S4 has been suggested as interesting multivalent battery cathode candidate, even though the synthesis of its exact stoichiometry poses serious challenges. In this work, MgCr2S4 is prepared using an innovative mechanochemical route starting from magnesium or magnesium hydride, chromium, and sulfur powders. The progress of such mechanically induced reaction as a function of processing time is carefully monitored by XRD with Rietveld refinement, evidencing the occurrence of a mechanically induced self-propagating reaction (MSR). The effect of parameters associated with the milling apparatus (impact energy) on the products composition are also investigated. To our knowledge, this work represents the first report of the scalable and simple mechanical alloying synthesis of thiospinel MgCr2S4 (space group Fd-3 m, a = 10.09 Å) and opens up interesting possibilities for the exploitation of such material in next-generation post-lithium batteries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges of Batteries in the Post Li-Ion Era)
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14 pages, 4446 KiB  
Article
Optimizing Discharge Capacity of Graphite Nanosheet Electrodes for Lithium–Oxygen Batteries
by Philipp Wunderlich, Jannis Küpper and Ulrich Simon
Batteries 2020, 6(3), 36; https://doi.org/10.3390/batteries6030036 - 1 Jul 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4361
Abstract
Lithium–oxygen (Li-O2) batteries require scalable air electrode concepts and a sensible choice of operation parameters to achieve their promised energy densities. Furthermore, different test parameters are often investigated individually, but rarely brought together in order to optimize the discharge process and [...] Read more.
Lithium–oxygen (Li-O2) batteries require scalable air electrode concepts and a sensible choice of operation parameters to achieve their promised energy densities. Furthermore, different test parameters are often investigated individually, but rarely brought together in order to optimize the discharge process and unlock the full discharge capability of an air electrode. In this work, we present a highly porous electrode based on graphite nanosheets (GNS) and discuss the impact of the discharge current density and the oxygen pressure as battery test parameters, as well as the electrolyte salt and volume, on the discharge behavior. In particular, changing the electrolyte salt from LiNO3 to LiTFSI proved to be an important step towards better cell performance, because synergistic effects of the electrolyte and GNS greatly enhance the carbon-specific capacity. The optimized combination of the aforementioned parameters enabled a remarkably high discharge capacity of 56.3 mAh/cm2 (5860 mAh/gcarbon) obtained at 150 µA/cm2 (15.6 mA/gcarbon), resulting in the almost complete conversion of the lithium anode. These experimental results are an important step towards practical high-capacity air electrodes for Li-O2 batteries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges of Batteries in the Post Li-Ion Era)
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