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U.S. Department of Energy
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Investigation of a vitreous electrolyte for use in lithium/sulfur cells

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5747045
Novel Li/S cells, which employed a fast-lithium-ion conducting lithium chloroborate galss as the solid electrolyte, have been built and operated at 400/sup 0/C. The composition of glass used for this study, 7.3 mol% (LiCl)/sub 2/, 25.7 mol% Li/sub 2/O, and 67.0 mol% B/sub 2/O/sub 3/, had an ionic conductivity of 2.9 x 10/sup -3/ (..cap omega../sup -1/.cm/sup -1/) ar 400/sup 0/C, which was somewhat lower than those of other lithium chloroborate glasses, which have shown ionic conductivities as high as 2 x 10/sup -2/ (..cap omega../sup -1/. cm/sup -1/). The current-voltage characteristics of these cells were found to be capable of supporting pseudo-steady-state current densities up to 15 mA/cm/sup 2/ for 15-20 hours. A limiting current was found to exist at approximately 23 mA/cm/sup 2/. These cells could be charged and discharged with approximately equal polarization in either direction. However, the accumulation of a crystalline reaction layer on the surface of the electrolyte during discharge caused the cells to fail before the completion of a full charge-discharge cycle. These cells were also used to measure the solubility of lithium (as a polysulfide) in sulfur. The solubility limit was found to occur at 0.04 mol% Li at 400/sup 0/C.
Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
AC03-76SF00098
OSTI ID:
5747045
Report Number(s):
LBL-20737; ON: DE86011192
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English