Better batteries for electric cars and cellphones and better batteries for industrial use that can store excess power generated by wind and solar farms and then supply it to the grid at times of peak demand are greatly needed. The ability to efficiently store energy generated from renewable sources would quite literally be a game changer in the quest to build a clean energy future and reduce the impact of climate change. George Crabtree, director of the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research, discusses the importance of next-generation batteries with Paris Schutz on Chicago Tonight.
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Understanding fluorine-free electrolytes via small-angle X-ray scattering
We compare the solvation phenomenon of sodium tetraphenylborate (NaBPh4) salt dissolved in organic solvents of propylene carbonate (PC), 1,2-dimethoxyethane (DME), acetonitrile (ACN) and tetrahydrofuran (THF) by SAXS/WAXS measurement and MD simulation. Read More
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Navigating the Minefield of Battery Literature
This is an invited perspective aiming to help researchers new to the field of battery research to circumvent certain recurring misconceptions and inaccuracies in the current battery literature. It covers the electrolyte ideality and practical situation in batteries, the difficulty in accurately determining ion transference … Read More
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Quantifying Lithium Ion Exchange in Solid Electrolyte Interphase (SEI) on Graphite Anode Surfaces
By using Li isotopic labelling of SEIs and electrolytes followed by time-of-flight secondary-ion mass spectroscopy and solid-state NMR analyses, we found that the majority of Li+ “immobilized” in the chemical ingredients were exchanged after 1 SEI formation cycle. Ion exchange by diffusion based on concentration … Read More
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A Sobering Examination of the Feasibility of Aqueous Aluminum Batteries
We revealed the first compelling evidence for a dynamic octahedral solvation structure around Al3+ dominated by labile water and OH-, without Al-OTf contact ion pairs, at high salt concentrations. High proton activity is observed in transport and electrochemical measurements which relates well with the proposed … Read More
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Ion Migration Mechanisms in the Sodium Sulfide Solid Electrolyte Na3-xSb1-xWxS4
The atomic-scale mechanisms that underlie the exceptionally high ionic conductivity of Na3-xSb1-xWxS4 are elucidated. The conductivity is well explained by a combination of vacancy-related effects and a strong overlap of cation vibrational modes with anion librations. Read More
