Intermetallic insertion anodes for lithium batteries.
Binary intermetallic compounds containing lithium, or lithium alloys, such as Li{sub x}Al, Li{sub x}Si and Li{sub x}Sn have been investigated in detail in the past as negative electrode materials for rechargeable lithium batteries. It is generally acknowledged that the major limitation of these systems is the large volumetric expansion that occurs when lithium reacts with the host metal. Such large increases in volume limit the practical use of lithium-tin electrodes in electrochemical cells. It is generally recognized that metal oxide electrodes, MO{sub y}, in lithium-ion cells operate during charge and discharge by means of a reversible lithium insertion/extraction process, and that the cells offer excellent cycling behavior when the crystallographic changes to the unit cell parameters and unit cell volume of the Li{sub x}MO{sub y} electrode are kept to a minimum. An excellent example of such an electrode is the spinel Li{sub 4}Ti{sub 5}O{sub 12}, which maintains its cubic symmetry without any significant change to the lattice parameter (and hence unit cell volume) during lithium insertion to the rock-salt composition Li{sub 7}Ti{sub 5}O{sub 12}. This spinel electrode is an example of a ternary Li{sub x}MO{sub y} system in which a binary MO{sub y} framework provides a stable host structure for lithium. With this approach, the authors have turned their attention to exploring ternary intermetallic systems Li{sub x}MM{prime} in the hope of finding a system that is not subject to the high volumetric expansion that typifies many binary systems. In this paper, the authors present recent data of their investigations of lithium-copper-tin and lithium-indium-antimonide electrodes in lithium cells. The data show that lithium can be inserted reversibly into selected intermetallic compounds with relatively small expansion of the lithiated intermetallic structures.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab., IL (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- US Department of Energy (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-31109-ENG-38
- OSTI ID:
- 750591
- Report Number(s):
- ANL/CMT/CP-100487
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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