Hybrid Li-Ion/Li-Oxygen Battery Materials

In the Center for Electrochemical Energy Science (CEES) EFRC, we are investigating a new class of energy storage materials – hybrid Li-ion/Li-oxygen materials – that combine lithium ion and lithium oxygen capacity to deliver high energy storage capacity [1,2]. In this talk, we will discuss our synthesis, characterization, and first principles modeling efforts of these hybrid Li-ion/Li-oxygen materials, in an attempt to understand their electrochemical performance and reaction mechanisms. We will report on the in-situ observations of structural changes during electrochemical cycling, and accompanying first principles studies, in prototypical hybrid materials, Li₅FeO₄ and αMnO₂ [3]. We will present results of high throughput computational searches for new hybrid materials [4]. Challenges and future prospects of hybrid materials will also be discussed.
[1] L. Trahey, C. S. Johnson, J. T. Vaughey, S.-H. Kang, L. J. Hardwick, S. A. Freunberger, P. G. Bruce, M. M. Thackeray, “Activated Lithium-Metal-Oxides as Catalytic Electrodes for Li-O₂ Cells,” Electrochemical and Solid-State Letters, 2011, 14, A64.
[2] M. M. Thackeray, M. K. Y. Chan, L. Trahey, S. Kirklin, and C. Wolverton, “Vision for Designing High-Energy, Hybrid Li Ion/Li-O₂ Cells,” Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 2013, 4, 3607.
[3] Z. Yang, L. Trahey, Y. Ren, M. K. Y. Chan, C. Lin, J. Okasinski, and M. M. Thackeray, “In-Situ High-Energy Synchrotron X-ray Diffraction Studies and First Principles Modeling of α-MnO₂ Electrodes in Li-O₂ and Li-ion Coin Cells,” Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2015, 3, 7389.
[4] S. Kirklin, M. K. Y. Chan, L. Trahey, M. M. Thackeray, C Wolverton, “High-throughput screening of high-capacity electrodes for hybrid Li-ion-Li-O₂ cells,” Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 2014, 16, 22073.