• Batteries: Passivation layer mystery sol

    From ScienceDaily@1:317/3 to All on Tue Mar 21 22:30:26 2023
    Batteries: Passivation layer mystery solved
    Researchers characterized chemical processes at the electrodes of
    lithium-ion batteries

    Date:
    March 21, 2023
    Source:
    Karlsruher Institut fu"r Technologie (KIT)
    Summary:
    In our daily lives, lithium-ion batteries have become
    indispensable. They function only because of a passivation layer
    that forms during their initial cycle. As researchers found out
    via simulations, this solid electrolyte interphase develops not
    directly at the electrode but aggregates in the solution. Their
    findings allow the optimization of the performance and lifetime
    of future batteries.


    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIN Email
    FULL STORY ==========================================================================
    In our daily lives, lithium-ion batteries have become indispensable. They function only because of a passivation layer that forms during their
    initial cycle. As researchers at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
    found out via simulations, this solid electrolyte interphase develops not directly at the electrode but aggregates in the solution. The scientists
    report on their study in the Advanced Energy Materials journal. Their
    findings allow the optimization of the performance and lifetime of
    future batteries.


    ==========================================================================
    From smartphones to electric cars -- wherever a mobile energy source
    is required, it is almost always a lithium-ion battery that does the
    job. An essential part of the reliable function of this and other
    liquid electrolyte batteries is the solid electrolyte interphase
    (SEI). This passivation layer forms when voltage is applied for the first
    time. The electrolyte is being decomposed in the immediate vicinity
    of the surface. Until now, it remained unclear ow the particles in
    the electrolytes form a layer that is up to 100 nanometers thick on
    the surface of the electrode since the decomposition reaction is only
    possible in a few nanometers distance from the surface.

    The passivation layer on the anode surface is crucial to the
    electrochemical capacity and lifetime of a lithium-ion battery because
    it is highly stressed with every charging cycle. When the SEI is
    broken up during this process, the electrolyte is further decomposed
    and the battery's capacity is reduced -- a process that determines the
    lifetime of a battery. With the right knowledge on the SEI's growth and composition, the properties of a battery can be controlled. But so far,
    no experimental or computer-aided approach was sufficient to decipher
    the SEI's complex growth processes that take place on a very wide scale
    and in different dimensions.

    Study as Part of the EU Initiative BATTERY 2030+ Researchers at the
    KIT Institute of Nanotechnology (INT) now managed to characterize the
    formation of the SEI with a multi-scale approach. "This solves one of
    the great mysteries regarding an essential part of all liquid electrolyte batteries -- especially the lithium-ion batteries we all use every day,"
    says Professor Wolfgang Wenzel, director of the research group "Multiscale Materials Modelling and Virtual Design" at INT, which is involved in
    the large-scale European research initiative BATTERY 2030+ that aims
    to develop safe, affordable, long-lasting, sustainable high-performance batteries for the future. The KIT researchers report on their findings
    in the journal Advanced Energy Materials.

    More than 50,000 Simulations for Different Reaction Conditions To examine
    the growth and composition of the passivation layer at the anode of liquid electrolyte batteries, the researchers at INT generated an ensemble of
    over 50,000 simulations representing different reaction conditions. They
    found that the growth of the organic SEI follows a solution-mediated
    pathway: First, SEI precursors that are formed directly at the surface
    join far away from the electrode surface via a nucleation process. The subsequent rapid growth of the nuclei leads to the formation of a porous
    layer that eventually covers the electrode surface. These findings
    offer a solution to the paradoxical situation that SEI constituents can
    form only near the surface, where electrons are available, but their
    growth would stop once this narrow region is covered. "We were able
    to identify the key reaction parameters that determine SEI thickness,"
    explains Dr. Saibal Jana, postdoc at INT and one of the authors of the
    study. "This will enable the future development of electrolytes and
    suitable additives that control the properties of the SEI and optimize
    the battery's performance and lifetime." (or)
    * RELATED_TOPICS
    o Matter_&_Energy
    # Batteries # Fuel_Cells # Nature_of_Water #
    Energy_and_Resources
    o Computers_&_Math
    # Computer_Modeling # Neural_Interfaces #
    Distributed_Computing # Mobile_Computing
    * RELATED_TERMS
    o Lithium o Acid o Battery_(electricity) o Chlorine o Cadmium
    o Computer_simulation o Alternative_fuel_vehicle o Solubility

    ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
    Karlsruher_Institut_fu"r_Technologie_(KIT). Note: Content may be edited
    for style and length.


    ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
    1. Meysam Esmaeilpour, Saibal Jana, Hongjiao Li, Mohammad
    Soleymanibrojeni,
    Wolfgang Wenzel. A Solution‐Mediated Pathway for the
    Growth of the Solid Electrolyte Interphase in Lithium‐Ion
    Batteries. Advanced Energy Materials, 2023; 2203966 DOI:
    10.1002/aenm.202203966 ==========================================================================

    Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230321112637.htm

    --- up 1 year, 3 weeks, 1 day, 10 hours, 50 minutes
    * Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)