Effects of Nonaqueous Electrolytes on the Performance of Primary Lithium/Air Batteries
The factors affecting the cell performance of non-aqueous electrolytes in primary Li/air batteries operated in an ambient environment were investigated. Four organic additives or co-solvents were also evaluated in electrolytes for Li/air batteries. It has been found that the polarity of an electrolyte is a critical factor for the performance of Li/air batteries. This factor overweighs the effects from the viscosity, ionic conductivity, and oxygen solubility of the electrolytes. In addition, the volume of electrolyte added to a cell significantly affects the discharge performance of a Li/air battery. The strong Lewis base tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane reduces the discharge capacity of a Li/air battery even though its ability to dissolve a certain amount of lithium oxide was supposed to improve the cell performance of Li/air batteries. Addition of two crown ethers, 12-crown-4 and 15-crown-5, especially the former one, can significantly improve the discharge performance of the Li/air cells with electrolytes containing about 15% by weight of such compounds as co-solvents. However, addition of 18-crown-6 decreases the cell performance. The differences among the three crown ethers were investigated.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 971896
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-68519; JESOAN; 400403209; TRN: US201004%%346
- Journal Information:
- Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 157(2):A219-A224, Vol. 157, Issue 2; ISSN 0013-4651
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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