Study of Immersion of LiNiMnCoO Material in Water for Aqueous Processing of Positive Electrode for Li-Ion Batteries.

The understanding of the phenomena occurring during immersion of LiNiMnCoO (NMC) in water is helpful to devise new strategies toward the implementation of aqueous processing of this high-capacity cathode material. Immersion of NMC powder in water leads to both structural modification of the particles surface as observed by high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy and the formation of lithium-based compounds over the surface (LiOH, LiCO) in greater amount than after long-time exposure to ambient air, as confirmed by pH titration and Li MAS NMR analysis. The surface compounds adversely affect the electrochemical performance and are notably responsible for the alkaline pH of the aqueous slurry, which causes corrosion of the aluminum collector during coating of the electrode.

Ion transfer battery: storing energy by transferring ions across liquid-liquid interfaces.

A battery utilizing the Galvani potential difference between aqueous and organic phases is demonstrated. The battery consists of two organic redox electrolytes separated by an immiscible aqueous phase. The charge is stored by transferring a salt from the aqueous phase into organic phases in ion transfer coupled electron transfer reactions.