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The redox activity of tavorite LiFeSO4F coated with poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene), i.e. PEDOT, is investigated by means of several spectroscopic techniques. The electronic changes and iron-ligand redox features of this LiFeSO4F-PEDOT composite are probed upon delithiation through X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The PEDOT coating, which is necessary here to obtain enough electrical conductivity for the electrochemical reactions of LiFeSO4F to occur, is electrochemically stable within the voltage window employed for cell cycling. Although the electronic configuration of PEDOT shows also some changes in correspondence of its reduced and oxidized forms after electrochemical conditioning in Li half-cells, its p-type doping is fully retained between 2.7 and 4.1 V with respect to Li+/Li during the first few cycles. An increased iron-ligand interaction is observed in LixFeSO4F during electrochemical lithium extraction, which appears to be a general trend for polyanionic insertion compounds. This finding is crucial for a deeper understanding of a series of oxidation phenomena in Li-ion battery cathode materials and helps paving the way to the exploration of new energy storage materials with improved electrochemical performances.

K2Mn[Mn(CN)(6)] is synthesized, characterized, and evaluated as possible positive electrode material in nonaqueous Li-, Na-, and K-ion batteries. This compound belongs to the rich and versatile family of hexacyanometallates displaying distinctive structural properties, which makes it interesting for ion insertion purposes. It can be viewed as a perovskite-like compound in which CN-bridged Mn(CN)(6) octahedra form an open framework structure with sufficiently large diffusion channels able to accommodate a variety of insertion cations. By means of galvanostatic cycling and cyclic voltammetry tests in nonaqueous alkali metal half-cells, it is demonstrated that this material is able to reversibly host Li+, Na+, and K+ ions via electrochemical insertion/deinsertion within a wide voltage range. The general electrochemical features are similar for all of these three ion insertion chemistries. An in operando X-ray diffraction investigation indicates that the original monoclinic structure is transformed into a cubic one during charging (i.e., removal of cations from the host framework) and that such a process is reversible upon subsequent cell discharge and cation reuptake.

Neutron powder diffraction studies of the compounds FePO4 and LiFePO4 are reported. Rietveld refinement of the diffraction data provides averaged structures for both materials that are in good agreement with the published structures. In addition, detailed investigations of the short-range ion-ion correlations within each compound have been performed using the reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) modeling of the total scattering (Bragg plus diffuse) data. Although the short-range structural information for LiFePO4 is consistent with the long-range (averaged) picture, a small, but statistically significant, proportion of the anions is displaced away from their ideal sites within the RMC configurations of FePO4. These anion displacements are discussed in terms of a small concentration of Li+/Fe2+ occupying the empty octahedral sites, probably arising from incomplete delithiation of the LiFePO4 and/or antisite (Li+-Fe2+) defects introduced during the delithiation process.

While the use of silicon‐based electrodes can increase the capacity of Li‐ion batteries considerably, their application is associated with significant capacity losses. In this work, the influences of solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) formation, volume expansion, and lithium trapping are evaluated for two different electrochemical cycling schemes using lithium‐metal half‐cells containing silicon nanoparticle–based composite electrodes. Lithium trapping, caused by incomplete delithiation, is demonstrated to be the main reason for the capacity loss while SEI formation and dissolution affect the accumulated capacity loss due to a decreased coulombic efficiency. The capacity losses can be explained by the increasing lithium concentration in the electrode causing a decreasing lithiation potential and the lithiation cut‐off limit being reached faster. A lithium‐to‐silicon atomic ratio of 3.28 is found for a silicon electrode after 650 cycles using 1200 mAhg⁻¹ capacity limited cycling. The results further show that the lithiation step is the capacity‐limiting step and that the capacity losses can be minimized by increasing the efficiency of the delithiation step via the inclusion of constant voltage delithiation steps. Lithium trapping due to incomplete delithiation consequently constitutes a very important capacity loss phenomenon for silicon composite electrodes.

The instability of carbon cathode materials is one of the key problems that hinder the development of lithium–air/lithium–oxygen (Li–O2) batteries. In this contribution, a type of TiC-based cathode is developed as a suitable alternative to carbon based cathodes, and its stability with respect to its surface properties is investigated. Here, a free-standing TiC nanowire array cathode was in situ grown on a carbon textile, covering its exposed surface. The TiC nanowire array, via deposition with Ru nanoparticles, showed enhanced oxygen reduction/evolution activity and cyclability, compared to the one without Ru modification. The battery performance of the Li–O2cells with Ru–TiC was investigated by using in operando synchrotron radiation powder X-ray diffraction (SR-PXD) during a full cycle. With the aid of surface analysis, the role of the cathode substrate and surface modification is demonstrated. The presented results are a further step toward a wise design of stable cathodes for Li–O2 batteries.

Na–O₂ batteries are regarded as promising candidates for energy storage. They have higher energy efficiency, rate capability, and chemical reversibility than Li–O₂ batteries; in addition, sodium is cheaper and more abundant compared to lithium. However, inconsistent observations and instability of discharge products have inhibited the understanding of the working mechanism of this technology. In this work, we have investigated a number of factors that influence the stability of the discharge products. By means of in operando powder X-ray diffraction study, the influence of oxygen, sodium anode, salt, solvent, and carbon cathode were investigated. The Na metal anode and an ether-based solvent are the main factors that lead to the instability and decomposition of NaO₂ in the cell environment. This fundamental insight brings new information on the working mechanism of Na–O₂ batteries.

The poor thermal stability of conventional LiPF6-based electrolytes is one of the major obstacles for today's lithium-ion batteries. Recently, lithium 4,5-dicyano-2-( trifluoromethyl) imidazolide (LiTDI) has demonstrated to be highly efficient in scavenging moisture from the electrolyte and thereby improving electrolyte stability. In this context, effects of the LiTDI additive on LiNi1/3Mn1/3Co1/3O2 (NMC)/graphite cells are evaluated at a temperature of 55 degrees C. With the incorporation of LiTDI, an improved cycling performance of NMC/graphite cells was achieved, and the impedance increase at the NMC/electrolyte interface was significantly mitigated. Furthermore, LiTDI exhibited a profound influence on the interfacial chemistries in the full cell, and LiTDI-derived species were found on the surfaces of both the cathode and the anode. The SEI layer formed on graphite anodes was more homogenous in morphology and consisted of larger amounts of LiF and fewer oxygen-containing species, as compared to graphite in additive-free cells. This study shows that LiTDI is a promising electrolyte additive for NMC/graphite cells operated at elevated temperatures, highlighting that the influence of the LiTDI additive is worth exploring also in other battery chemistries.

Li-ion battery (LIB) full cells comprised of TiO₂-nanotube (TiO₂-nt) and LiFePO₄ (LFP)electrodes and either a conventional organic solvent based liquid electrolyte or an ionic liquid basedelectrolyte have been cycled at 80 °C. While the cell containing the ionic liquid based electrolyteexhibited good capacity retention and rate capability during 100 cycles, rapid capacity fading was found for the corresponding cell with the organic electrolyte. Results obtained for TiO₂-nt and LFP half-cells indicate an oxidative degradation of the organic electrolyte at 80 °C. In all, ionic liquidbased electrolytes can be used to significantly improve the performance of LIBs operating at 80 °C.

The development of Na–O₂ batteries requires understanding the formation of reaction products, as different groups reported compounds such as sodium peroxide, sodium superoxide, and hydrated sodium peroxide as the main discharge products. In this study, we used in operando synchrotron radiation powder X-ray diffraction (SR-PXD) to (i) quantitatively track the formation of NaO₂ in Na–O₂ cells and (ii) measure how the growth of crystalline NaO₂ is influenced by the choice of electrolyte salt. The results reveal that the discharge could be divided into two time regions and that the formation of NaO₂ during the major part of the discharge reaction is highly efficient. The findings indicate that the cell with NaOTf salt exhibited higher capacity than the cell with NaPF₆ salt, whereas the average domain size of NaO₂ particles decreases during the discharge. This fundamental insight brings new information on the working mechanism of Na–O₂ batteries.

In-situ or operando quantitative analysis is very important for Li-O2 batteries, in order to properly, accurately and comprehensively evaluate electrocatalysts and characterize Li-O2 electrochemistry in real-time. Synchrotron XRD can provide much higher X-ray intensity and time resolution than traditional in-house diffractometers, and therefore can contribute to quantitative analysis for Li-O2 batteries. Here, operando synchrotron XRD is further developed to quantitatively study Li-O2 batteries with nano catalysts, Ru/MnO2. The time-resolved oxygen evolution reaction (OER) kinetics for Li-O2 cells with Ru/MNT was systematically investigated using operando synchrotron radiation powder X-ray diffraction (SR-PXD). Li2O2 decomposition in the electrodes with Ru/MNT catalysts during galvanostatic and potentiostatic charge processes followed pseudo-zero-order kinetics and showed ideal Coulombic efficiency (close to 100%). Furthermore, it was found that the OER kinetics for a cell with 2 wt% Ru/MNT charged at a constant potential of 4.3 V was even faster than that for a cell with the same amount of pure Ru nanoparticles, which have been considered as a highly active catalyst for Li-O2 batteries. These results indicated that Ru/MNT with a special nanostructure represented a very efficient electrocatalyst for promoting the OER in Li-O2 batteries. We also demonstrate that synchrotron radiation XRD can "highlight" a way to quantitative analysis for Li-O2 batteries.