Helmholtz Institute Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
By Prof. Stefano Passerini, Helmholtz Institute Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
High-energy density lithium-metal batteries face the challenge of developing functional electrolytes enabling both the stabilization of the lithium metal negative electrode and high-voltage positive electrodes (> 4 V vs. Li+/Li). Non-volatility and poorly-flammable ionic liquid electrolytes (ILEs) are successfully applied to overcome this challenge, employing high-energy, low or Co-free positive electrode materials in Li-metal batteries. With the ionic liquid-based electrolytes, the cathode exhibits remarkable electrochemical performance, achieving initial specific capacity above 200 mAh g-1 and outstanding capacity retention (up to 88% over 1000 cycles). More importantly, these electrolytes enable average Coulombic efficiency as high as 99.94%. The excellent compatibility of the ILEs with both the lithium metal and the high-voltage positive electrode materials enables the realization of Li-metal cells achieving specific energies up to 560 Wh kg-1 based on their combined active material masses.
Co-authors
Fanglin Wu1,2, Matthias Kuenzel1,2, Guk-Tae Kim1,2*, Stefano Passerini1,2*
(1) Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU), Helmholtzstrasse 11, Ulm 89081, Germany
(2) Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), P.O. Box 3640, Karlsruhe 76021, Germany.
Biography
Stefano Passerini is Professor at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology since January 1, 2014 and Director of the Helmholtz Institute Ulm since October 2018. His research focuses on the basic understanding and development of materials for high-energy batteries and supercapacitors, with the goal to create sustainable energy storage systems from environmentally friendly and available materials and processes. He is an internationally recognized pioneer in the field of ionic liquids and the development of sodium-ion batteries. Co-author of more than 600 scientific papers (Scopus H-Index: 96), a few book chapters and several international patents, he has been awarded in 2012 the Research Award of the Electrochemical Society Battery Division. Since 2015 he is acting as Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Power Sources. He has been nominated Fellow of the International Society of Electrochemistry (2016) and the Electrochemical Society Inc (2020). Since 2019 he is a member of the Leopoldina Academy of Science.