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Probing and Interpreting the Porosity and Tortuosity Evolution of Li-O2 Cathodes on Discharge Through a Combined Experimental and Theoretical Approach

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Torayev, Amangeldi 
Engelke, Simon 
Su, Zeliang 
Marbella, Lauren E 

Abstract

Li-O2 batteries offer a high theoretical discharge capacity due to the formation of light discharged species such as Li2O2 which fill the porous positive electrode. However, in practice it is challenging to reach the theoretical capacity and completely utilize the full electrode pore volume during discharge. With the formation of discharge products, the porous medium evolves, and the porosity and tortuosity factor of the positive electrode are altered through shrinkage and clogging of pores. A pore shrinks as solid discharge products accumulate, the pore clogging when it is filled (or when access is blocked). In this study, we investigate the structural evolution of the positive electrode through a combination of experimental and computational techniques. Pulsed-field Gradient Nuclear Magnetic Resonance results show that the electrode tortuosity factor changes much faster than suggested by the Bruggeman relation (an equation that empirically links the tortuosity factor to the porosity), and that the electrolyte solvent affects the tortuosity factor evolution. The latter is ascribed to the different abilities of solvents to dissolve reaction intermediates, which leads to different discharge product particle sizes: on discharging using 0.5 M LiTFSI in dimethoxyethane, the tortuosity factor increases much faster than for discharging in 0.5 M LiTFSI in tetraglyme. The correlation between discharge product size and tortuosity factor is studied using a pore network model which shows that larger discharge products generate more pore clogging. The Knudsen diffusion effect, where collisions of diffusing molecules with pore walls reduce the effective diffusion coefficients, is investigated using a kinetic Monte Carlo model and is found to have an insignificant impact on the effective diffusion coefficient for molecules in pores with diameters above 5 nm, i.e., most of the pores present in the materials investigated here. As a consequence, pore clogging is thought to be the main origin of tortuosity factor evolution.

Description

Keywords

40 Engineering, 34 Chemical Sciences, 3406 Physical Chemistry

Journal Title

The Journal of Physical Chemistry C: Energy Conversion and Storage, Optical and Electronic Devices, Interfaces, Nanomaterials, and Hard Matter

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1932-7447
1932-7455

Volume Title

Publisher

American Chemical Society

Rights

All rights reserved
Sponsorship
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/L016087/1)
European Commission Horizon 2020 (H2020) ERC (835073)
The authors acknowledge the ALISTORE European Research Institute for the funding support of A.T.’s Ph.D. thesis. S.E. acknowledges funding from the EPSRC grant EP/L016087/1. A.A.F. acknowledges the Institut Universitaire de France for funding support. This work has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme through the projects BATNMR, ARTISTIC and SuPERPORES (Grant Nos. 835073, 772873 and 714581, respectively). This research used resources of the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357.

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