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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 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Direct in situ measurements of electrical properties of solid–electrolyte interphase on lithium metal anodes

The solid–electrolyte interphase (SEI) critically governs the performance of rechargeable batteries. An ideal SEI is expected to be electrically insulative to prevent persistently parasitic reactions between the electrode and the electrolyte and ionically conductive to facilitate Faradaic reactions of the electrode. However, the true nature of the electrical properties of the SEI remains hitherto unclear due to the lack of a direct characterization method. Here we use in situ bias transmission electron microscopy to directly measure the electrical properties of SEIs formed on copper and lithium substrates. We reveal that SEIs show a voltage-dependent differential conductance. A higher rate of differential conductance induces a thicker SEI with an intricate topographic feature, leading to an inferior Coulombic efficiency and cycling stability in Li||Cu and Li||LiNi 0.8 Mn 0.1 Co 0.1 O 2 cells. Further, our work provides insight into the targeted design of the SEI with desired characteristics towards better battery performance.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Electron passivation in CaF 2 on calcium metal anodes

Current electrolytes in calcium-ion batteries suffer from a lack of stability and degradation caused by reduction from the anode. The solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) that forms on the anodes during operation stems the flow of electrons from the anode to the electrolyte. CaF 2 is a common inorganic compound found in the SEI, and is derived from electrolyte salts such as Ca(PF 6 ) 2 . CaF 2 can exist in crystalline, polycrystalline, and amorphous phases in the SEI, and as recent work has shown, different phases of the same compound can have vastly different electronic conductivities. Using the non-equilibrium Green's function technique with density functional theory (NEGF-DFT), we find that amorphous phase systems enhance electron tunneling in thin CaF 2 films by 1–2 orders of magnitude when compared to crystalline and polycrystalline CaF 2 systems. Transport through several amorphous structures was considered showing that, despite their random structures, their conductance properties are similar. Finally, through analysis of the decay constant β and the low-bias conductance of each system, we show that crystalline and polycrystalline CaF 2 offer greater protection of the electrolyte than amorphous CaF 2 .

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

Highly textured metal anodes for stable aqueous batteries: Fabrication and characterization

We report a purely mechanical “cold-compression flow” method for fabricating Zn, Sn, and In substrates with tunable crystallographic textures. Using textured Zn as a model system, we investigate Zn electrocrystallization and demonstrate correlated growth of crystalline films with correlation lengths from tens to hundreds of micrometers. At 5 milliamperes per square centimeter (mA/cm 2 ), capacities between 20 and 82 milliampere hours per square centimeter (mA·hour/cm 2 ) are achieved depending on substrate texture level. At higher currents (40 mA/cm 2 ), capacities reach up to 604 mA·hour/cm 2 . Rotating disk electrode studies show that dominantly (002) textured Zn substrates exhibit enhanced corrosion resistance and reduced interphase passivation. We introduce an effective Damköhler number (Da*) to concisely describe morphological evolution during electrocrystallization across substrates with different textures. High-texture (002) Zn substrates substantially enhance performance in high-capacity (~20 mA·hour/cm 2 ) symmetric Zn||Zn cells and full cells (Zn||δ-MnO 2 and Zn||I 2 ), enabling fast-charging and prolonged energy storage in coin and pouch rechargeable Zn battery formats.

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