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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 217 records · Page 12
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Relationship of the Molecular Structure and Transport Properties of Imide-Based Lithium Salts of “Acetonitrile/Water-in-Salt” Electrolytes

“Water-in-salt” (WIS) electrolytes exhibit excellent safety and electrochemical performance. However, they possess high concentrations, relatively low diffusion coefficient, and high viscosity. “Acetonitrile/water in salt” (AWIS) electrolytes can overcome the disadvantages of WIS electrolytes. Under relatively low concentrations, AWIS electrolytes show good electrochemical performance comparable to WIS electrolytes and low conductivity. Herein, we investigate the relationship between the solvation structures and the transport properties using small-angle X-ray scattering and molecular dynamics simulation. We observed two solvation behaviors of AWIS: anions dissolved in acetonitrile forming small acetonitrile/anion clusters and additional water further dissolving the small acetonitrile/anion clusters. The introduction of acetonitrile weakens the water–solute interaction and enhances the cation–anion interaction, which results in an enhanced dynamical slowdown as the concentration increases. In conclusion, this work provides molecular-level understanding of the connection between two-stage solvation structures and transport properties for imide-based lithium salt solutions.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

Thermodynamic, Kinetic, and Transport Contributions to Hydrogen Evolution Activity and Electrolyte-Stability Windows for Water-in-Salt Electrolytes

Concentrated water-in-salt electrolytes (WiSEs) are used in aqueous batteries and to control electrochemical reactions for fuel production. The hydrogen evolution reaction is a parasitic reaction at the negative electrode that limits cell voltage in WiSE batteries and leads to self-discharge, and affects selectivity for electrosynthesis. Mitigating and modulating these processes is hampered by a limited fundamental understanding of HER kinetics in WiSEs. Here, in this study, we quantitatively assess how thermodynamics, kinetics, and interface layers control the apparent HER activities in 20 m LiTFSI. When the LiTFSI concentration is increased from 1 to 20 m, an increase in proton activity causes a positive shift in the HER equilibrium potential of 71 mV. The exchange current density, i o , derived from the HER branch for 20 m LiTFSI in 98% purity (0.56 ± 0.05 μA/cm Pt 2 ), however, is 8 times lower than for 20 m LiTFSI in 99.95% (4.7 ± 0.2 μA/cm Pt 2 ) and 32 times lower than for 1 m LiTFSI in 98% purity (18 ± 1 μA/cm Pt 2 ), demonstrating that the WiSE's impurities and concentration are both central in significantly suppressing HER kinetics. The ability and applicability of the reported methods are extended by examining additional WiSEs formulations made of acetates and nitrates.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Porous Liquids as Electrolyte: A Case Study of Li + and Mg 2+ Ion Transport in Crown Ether-Based Type-II Porous Liquids

Here, we demonstrate crown ether (CE)-based type II porous liquid (PL) electrolytes in which CEs provide internal porosity and are capable of coordinating with Li + and Mg 2+ ions. We investigated the physicochemical properties of the PL electro-lytes with different functional groups and cavity sizes. Among the electrolytes studied, the 12-crown-4 (12C4)-based PL electrolyte exhibited the most enhanced ionic conductivity due to size match between the CE cavity and the Li + ion. Nu-clear magnetic resonance and Fourier transform infrared analyses revealed that addition of CEs reduces the Li + ion–solvent interaction, resulting in the formation of Li-CE complexes. The simulation study clearly showed that the solvated Li + and Mg 2+ ions form complexes with 12C4. The strategy described here using CE-based PLs should be applicable to the design versatile electrolytes for various metal-ion batteries.

Shin, Sun Hae Ra↗
DOE OSTI2025

Influence of Ether-Functionalized Pyrrolidinium Ionic Liquids on Properties and Li + Cation Solvation in Solvate Ionic Liquids

Ionic liquids are tunable solvents composed entirely of ions that have properties desirable as electrolytes for lithium batteries such as non-flammability and a large electrochemical stability window. Solvate ionic liquids are a subclass of ionic liquids that consist of a glyme-based solvent and lithium salt in an equimolar ratio, where Li + cation-glyme solvation interactions result in ionic liquid-like properties. LiG4TFSi is a well-studied solvate ionic liquid consisting of equimolar amounts of lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI) and tetraglyme (G4). In this work, pyrrolidinium ionic liquids with ether-functionalized side chains were synthesized containing either one ether (EO1) moiety or three ether (EO3) moieties and mixed with LiG4TFSI to form a new class of electrolyte mixtures. Their physical and transport properties, as well as ion solvation structures, were characterized by electrochemical, thermal, rheological, and spectroscopic measurements. The conductivity of the electrolyte mixture composed of EO1:LiTFSI:G4 in a 1:1:1 molar ratio is 2.54 mS/cm at 30 °C, compared to 1.53 mS/cm for LiG4TFSI, an increase of 67%. A significant decrease in the conductivity to 0.279 mS/cm is observed for the EO3:LiTFSI:G4 mixture in a 1:1:0.4 molar ratio. Pulsed-field gradient nuclear magnetic resonance (PFG-NMR) measurements revealed that the EO1 cation diffuses significantly faster than the EO3 cation in their respective mixtures. Liquid-state 13 C NMR experiments indicate that Li + cations preferentially coordinate with tetraglyme. Li + cations do not coordinate with the EO1 cation and only coordinate with EO3 ether side chains at lower concentrations of tetraglyme. We hypothesize that the oligoether EO3 cation competes with G4 and TFSI - for lithium cation solvation in G4 deficient compositions, leading to a largely adverse effect on the mass transport properties of the electrolyte.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

Influence of Ether Solvent and Anion Coordination on Electrochemical Behavior in Calcium Battery Electrolytes

The emergence of magnesium and calcium batteries as potential beyond Li ion energy storage technologies has generated significant interest into the fundamental aspects of alkaline earth metal cation coordination in multivalent electrolytes and the impact of coordination on application-critical electrolyte properties such as solubility, transport, and electrochemical stability. Understanding these details in calcium electrolytes is of immediate importance due to recent, unprecedented demonstrations of reversible calcium metal electrodeposition in a limited number of ethereal solvent-based systems. In this work, we provide insight connecting Ca 2+ coordination tendencies to important calcium battery electrolyte properties. Our results demonstrate a clear solvent:Ca 2+ coordination strength trend across a series of cyclic ether and linear glyme solvents that controls the extent of ion association in solutions of “weakly” coordinating salts. We apply understanding gained from these results to rationalize relative anion:Ca 2+ coordination tendencies and attendant Ca 2+ coordination structures using two oxidatively stable anions of particular interest for current battery electrolytes. Armed with this understanding of solvent and anion interactions with Ca 2+ , we demonstrate and interpret differences in electrochemical calcium deposition behavior across several electrolyte exemplars with varying solvent and anion coordination strengths. Our findings demonstrate that solvents exhibiting especially strong coordination to Ca 2+ , such as triglyme, can inhibit reversible calcium deposition despite effective elimination of anion:Ca 2+ coordination while solvents exhibiting more modest coordination strength, such as 1,2-dimethoxyethane, may enable deposition provided anion:Ca 2+ coordination is substantially limited. These results reveal that the strength of coordination of both anion and solvent should be considered in the design of electrolytes for calcium batteries.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Understanding the Conductivity and Transference Trade-Off in Polymer Electrolytes Using a Robeson-Inspired Upper Bound

The development of high-performance electrolytes is crucial for advancing next-generation lithium and sodium battery technologies. Since the cation is the working ion in both technologies, electrolytes exhibiting the rapid cation transport are essential for making progress. Pathways to optimize electrolytes are unclear due to the inherent trade-off between conductivity and cation transference. While this trade-off is sometimes recognized, there are no well-accepted methodologies for quantifying it. Inspired by the Robeson upper bound for the permeability–selectivity trade-off in gas separation membranes, we propose an approach for quantifying the trade-off in electrolytes using Newman’s concentrated solution theory. We suggest calling this the Newman upper bound. By analyzing published data from 30 polymer electrolytes containing univalent lithium and sodium salts, the Newman upper bound is expressed as κ = 2.0­(1/ρ+ – 1) where κ (mS/cm) is conductivity and ρ+ is the current fraction measured in a symmetric cell as first described by Bruce et al. [J. Electroanal. Chem. Interfacial Electrochem. 1987, 225 (1), 1–17]. This formulation of the upper bound introduces a critical guiding metric for designing next-generation polymer electrolytes; it highlights factors underlying the trade-off, including the salt diffusion coefficient (D), cation transference number relative to solvent velocity ( t + 0 ), and thermodynamic factor (1 + (d lnγ+–)/(d lnm)), where γ+– is the mean molar activity coefficient and m is the molality. These parameters have been measured for very few electrolytes. We posit that establishing the molecular properties that govern these parameters will lead to improved electrolytes that greatly exceed the current upper bound.

He, Zirong↗
DOE OSTI2021

Solvation Structure and Dynamics of Mg(TFSI) 2 Aqueous Electrolyte

Using ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations, classical molecular dynamics (CMD) simulations, small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), and pulsed-field gradient nuclear magnetic resonance (PFG-NMR), the solvation structure and ion dynamics of magnesium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (Mg(TFSI) 2 ) aqueous electrolyte at 1, 2, and 3 m concentrations are investigated. From AIMD and CMD simulations, the first solvation shell of an Mg 2+ ion is found to be composed of six water molecules in an octahedral configuration and the solvation shell is rather rigid. The TFSI - ions prefer to stay in the second solvation shell and beyond. Meanwhile, the comparable diffusion coefficients of positive and negative ions in Mg(TFSI) 2 aqueous electrolytes have been observed, which is mainly due to the formation of the stable [Mg(H 2 O) 6 ] 2+ complex, and, as a result, the increased effective Mg ion size. Finally, the calculated correlated transference numbers are lower than the uncorrelated ones even at the low concentration of 2 and 3 m, suggesting the enhanced correlations between ions in the multivalent electrolytes. This work provides a molecular-level understanding of how the solvation structure and multivalency of the ion affect the dynamics and transport properties of the multivalent electrolyte, providing insight for rational designs of electrolytes for improved ion transport properties.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Predicting chemical reaction equilibria in molten carbonate fuel cells via molecular simulations

It has been recently suggested that hydroxide ions can be formed in the electrolyte of molten carbonate fuel cells when water vapor is present. The hydroxide can replace carbonate in transporting electrons across the electrolyte, thereby reducing the CO 2 separation efficiency of the fuel cell although still producing electricity. In this work, we obtain the equilibrium concentration of hydroxide in five molten alkali carbonate salts from molecular simulations. The results reveal that there can be a substantial amount of hydroxide in the electrolyte at low partial pressures of CO 2 . In addition, we find that the equilibrium concentration of molecular water dissolved in the electrolyte is over two orders of magnitude higher than that of CO 2 . Increasing the size and polarizability (or in other words reducing the “hardness”) of the cations present in the electrolyte can reduce the hydroxide fraction, but at the cost of lowering ionic conductivity.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

Machine learning-accelerated path integral molecular dynamics simulations of reactive organic electrolytes

Hydrogen bonded electrolytes that exhibit accelerated proton transport via sequential reactive hops have drawn interest for their promise in clean energy applications. Molecular dynamics simulations of these electrolytes offer the opportunity to uncover microscopic mechanistic details that could be used to design and tune the properties of candidate electrolyte technologies. However, accurately modeling the proton transfer reactions and transport properties that give rise to high charge conductivites in these electrolytes proves computationally challenging because of the need to perform lengthy condensed phase simulations, treating both the electronic and nuclear degrees of freedom quantum mechanically. In this paper, we demonstrate that such a modeling task can be efficiently achieved with the use of density functional theory (DFT)-trained machine learning potentials (MLP) to accelerate path integral molecular dynamics (PIMD) simulations. We highlight the practical utility of this approach by using it to benchmark how closely PIMD simulations employing different DFT exchange–correlation functionals reproduce the composition-dependent densities, diffusion coefficients, and electrical conductivities of mixtures consisting of imidazole and levulinic acid. Even with the speedup afforded by our MLPs, PIMD simulations remain quite expensive. Furthermore, in order to render PIMD more computationally tractable, we introduce and benchmark the accuracy of a ring polymer contraction approach that leverages a computationally efficient short-range MLP to accelerate our PIMD simulations by an additional factor of four.

Chemical bonding↗
DOE OSTI2024

Carbon capture in polymer-based electrolytes

Nanoparticle organic hybrid materials (NOHMs) have been proposed as excellent electrolytes for combined CO 2 capture and electrochemical conversion due to their conductive nature and chemical tunability. However, CO 2 capture behavior and transport properties of these electrolytes after CO 2 capture have not yet been studied. Here, we use a variety of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques to explore the carbon speciation and transport properties of branched polyethylenimine (PEI) and PEI-grafted silica nanoparticles (denoted as NOHM-I-PEI) after CO 2 capture. Quantitative 13 C NMR spectra collected at variable temperatures reveal that absorbed CO 2 exists as carbamates (RHNCOO – or RR'NCOO – ) and carbonate/bicarbonate (CO 3 2– /HCO 3 – ). The transport properties of PEI and NOHM-I-PEI studied using 1 H pulsed-field-gradient NMR, combined with molecular dynamics simulations, demonstrate that coulombic interactions between negatively and positively charged chains dominate in PEI, while the self-diffusion in NOHM-I-PEI is dominated by silica nanoparticles. These results provide strategies for selecting adsorbed forms of carbon for electrochemical reduction.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2022

Three-dimensional ion transport networks and current collectors for electrochemical cells

Provided herein are three-dimensional ion transport networks and current collectors for electrodes of electrochemical cells. Exemplary electrodes include interconnected layers and channels including an electrolyte to facilitate ion transport. Exemplary electrodes also include three dimensional current collectors, such as current collectors having electronically conducting rods, electronically conducting layers or a combination thereof.

Roumi, Farshid↗
DOE OSTI2024

Three-dimensional ion transport networks and current collectors for electrochemical cells

Provided herein are three-dimensional ion transport networks and current collectors for electrodes of electrochemical cells. Exemplary electrodes include interconnected layers and channels including an electrolyte to facilitate ion transport. Exemplary electrodes also include three dimensional current collectors, such as current collectors having electronically conducting rods, electronically conducting layers or a combination thereof.

Roumi, Farshid↗
DOE OSTI2024

Percolating Interfacial Layers Enhance Conductivity in Polymer–Composite Electrolytes

Here, this study investigates the impact of the ceramic particle size on the bulk and interfacial ion transport properties of composite polymer electrolytes. The ceramic particles used for this study are micrometer-sized commercial lithium lanthanum titanate (LLTO) powders and LLTO nanorods (NR) prepared in the laboratory. The polymer matrices are vinylene carbonate (VEC) based single-ion-conducting (SIC) and dual-ion-conducting (DIC) polymer electrolytes. Our results reveal that the addition of LLTO NR results in improved ion transport, while the addition of commercial LLTO is ineffective or even detrimental. We ascribe these results to the formation of an interfacial polymer layer around the LLTO particles with enhanced Li + mobility and estimate the thickness of the interfacial layer to be ∼5 nm. The high surface-to-volume ratio of the LLTO NR leads to the percolation of the interfacial region at a relatively low ceramic loading of 30 wt %. This study highlights the importance of achieving percolation of the interface region (as opposed to the particles themselves) within the composite electrolyte when the interfacial layer is the enhancement mechanism.

Ock, Ji-young↗
DOE OSTI2022

Transport and mechanical behavior in PEO-LLZO composite electrolytes

Abstract Composite solid electrolytes (CEs), wherein ion-conducting polymer and ceramic/glass is mixed, are promising candidates for all-solid-state batteries due to their promise of acceptable ionic conductivity and mechanical properties compared to their individual constituents. While numerous studies have focused on improving the performance of CEs, it is still unclear what the material targets are that can result in improved macroscopic performance especially in light of the coupled needs for high transport and high mechanical strength in these materials. In this study, a two-dimensional (2D) mathematical model is developed to investigate electrochemical and mechanical characteristics of CEs. The model is compared to CEs consisting of poly-ethylene-oxide (PEO) polymer and lithium lanthanum zirconium oxide (LLZO) ceramic material with examination of the impact of varying LLZO volume fractions. The potential drop at the PEO-LLZO interface is evaluated using the junction potential theory. Using experimental data from the literature, the model estimates the ionic conductivity, effective transference number, and mechanical stiffness of the CEs. While the mechanical stiffness improves with increasing volume fraction of LLZO, the impact on conductivity and transference number depends on interfacial resistance at the interface. Finally, the study reports CE’s potential to enhance Li-ion transport and mechanical properties to inhibit lithium (Li) dendrite growth.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗