Issue 9, 2017

On the incompatibility of lithium–O2 battery technology with CO2

Abstract

When solubilized in a hexacarboxamide cryptand anion receptor, the peroxide dianion reacts rapidly with CO2 in polar aprotic organic media to produce hydroperoxycarbonate (HOOCO2) and peroxydicarbonate (O2COOCO2). Peroxydicarbonate is subject to thermal fragmentation into two equivalents of the highly reactive carbonate radical anion, which promotes hydrogen atom abstraction reactions responsible for the oxidative degradation of organic solvents. The activation and conversion of the peroxide dianion by CO2 is general. Exposure of solid lithium peroxide (Li2O2) to CO2 in polar aprotic organic media results in aggressive oxidation. These findings indicate that CO2 must not be introduced in conditions relevant to typical lithium–O2 cell configurations, as production of HOOCO2 and O2COOCO2 during lithium–O2 cell cycling will lead to cell degradation via oxidation of organic electrolytes and other vulnerable cell components.

Graphical abstract: On the incompatibility of lithium–O2 battery technology with CO2

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
17 Mar 2017
Accepted
19 Jun 2017
First published
20 Jun 2017
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2017,8, 6117-6122

On the incompatibility of lithium–O2 battery technology with CO2

S. Zhang, M. J. Nava, G. K. Chow, N. Lopez, G. Wu, D. R. Britt, D. G. Nocera and C. C. Cummins, Chem. Sci., 2017, 8, 6117 DOI: 10.1039/C7SC01230F

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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