6.2 Lithium Batteries and Lithium-Ion Batteries
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6.2 Lithium Batteries and Lithium-Ion Batteries
6.2.1 Lithium Batteries
Lithium is the ideal negative active substance for high-energy batteries, because it has
the most negative standard electrode potential and quite low electrochemical equivalent (Yanxia and Lijuan 2017). The development of lithium battery began in the
1960s, and it has become a very important chemical power supply, application in the
aerospace, defense, civil, science and technology, such as cardiac pacemaker, electronic watches, calculator, tape recorder, aircraft, missiles ignition system, torpedoes,
etc. (Lingzhi 2009).
Lithium is very reactive. When lithium is used as an electrode, water cannot be
used as a solvent (Hong 2014). We can use organic solvent or non-aqueous inorganic
solvent electrolyte to make lithium non-water batteries, use molten salt to make
molten salt batteries, and use solid electrolyte to make Lithium solid electrolyte
batteries.
The commonly used organic solvents are acetonitrile, dimethylformamide, propylene carbonate, and butadiene. LiClO 4 , LiAlCl 4 , LiBF 4 , LiBr, and LiAsF 6 can be
used as support electrolytes. Non-aqueous inorganic solvents include SOCl 2 (thionyl
chloride) SO 2 Cl 2 (thionyl chloride) POCl 3 (phosphoryl chloride), which can also be
used as positive active substances. Compared with the traditional battery, the lithium
battery has the advantages of high charger/discharger voltage, relatively high power
and stable discharge voltage, long Li-storage life, and wide working temperature
range, but there are also some deficiencies, one of the primary problems is security.
Some lithium non-aqueous solutions batteries may explode when the battery is under
heavy load conditions. In addition, the low conductivity of the organic electrolyte
solution, the low energy density, and power of the batteries are the problems that
need to be solved.
6.2.1.1 Common Types of Lithium Batteries
Lithium organic electrolyte battery: the common electrolyte of Li/MnO 2 battery is
LiCIO 4
− polypropylene (PC)-glycol dimethyl ether. The open-circuit voltage and
working voltage are 3.5 and 2.9 V. The specific energy can reach up to 250 Wh kg
−1
and 500 Wh L
−1 . The electrolyte of Li/SO 2 battery is PC-acetonitrile solution
containing lithium bromide. The discharge voltage is stable, the specific energy of
the cell is up to 520 Wh L
−1 , the specific power is high, the low-temperature performance is good, and the storage life is long, but the security is poor. The electrolyte
of Li/(CF x ) n battery is γ-butylene solution containing LiBF 4 , whose open-circuit
voltage is 3.1 V, and it has a relatively high actual specific energy. PFC (CF x ) n is
chemically stable and thermally stable, but the cost is high.
Lithium inorganic electrolyte battery: using the inorganic solvent SOCl 2 . SO 2 Cl 2
. POCl 2 both as the positive active substance and electrolyte. The performances
115
6.2 Lithium Batteries and Lithium-Ion Batteries
6.2.1 Lithium Batteries
Lithium is the ideal negative active substance for high-energy batteries, because it has
the most negative standard electrode potential and quite low electrochemical equivalent (Yanxia and Lijuan 2017). The development of lithium battery began in the
1960s, and it has become a very important chemical power supply, application in the
aerospace, defense, civil, science and technology, such as cardiac pacemaker, electronic watches, calculator, tape recorder, aircraft, missiles ignition system, torpedoes,
etc. (Lingzhi 2009).
Lithium is very reactive. When lithium is used as an electrode, water cannot be
used as a solvent (Hong 2014). We can use organic solvent or non-aqueous inorganic
solvent electrolyte to make lithium non-water batteries, use molten salt to make
molten salt batteries, and use solid electrolyte to make Lithium solid electrolyte
batteries.
The commonly used organic solvents are acetonitrile, dimethylformamide, propylene carbonate, and butadiene. LiClO 4 , LiAlCl 4 , LiBF 4 , LiBr, and LiAsF 6 can be
used as support electrolytes. Non-aqueous inorganic solvents include SOCl 2 (thionyl
chloride) SO 2 Cl 2 (thionyl chloride) POCl 3 (phosphoryl chloride), which can also be
used as positive active substances. Compared with the traditional battery, the lithium
battery has the advantages of high charger/discharger voltage, relatively high power
and stable discharge voltage, long Li-storage life, and wide working temperature
range, but there are also some deficiencies, one of the primary problems is security.
Some lithium non-aqueous solutions batteries may explode when the battery is under
heavy load conditions. In addition, the low conductivity of the organic electrolyte
solution, the low energy density, and power of the batteries are the problems that
need to be solved.
6.2.1.1 Common Types of Lithium Batteries
Lithium organic electrolyte battery: the common electrolyte of Li/MnO 2 battery is
LiCIO 4
− polypropylene (PC)-glycol dimethyl ether. The open-circuit voltage and
working voltage are 3.5 and 2.9 V. The specific energy can reach up to 250 Wh kg
−1
and 500 Wh L
−1 . The electrolyte of Li/SO 2 battery is PC-acetonitrile solution
containing lithium bromide. The discharge voltage is stable, the specific energy of
the cell is up to 520 Wh L
−1 , the specific power is high, the low-temperature performance is good, and the storage life is long, but the security is poor. The electrolyte
of Li/(CF x ) n battery is γ-butylene solution containing LiBF 4 , whose open-circuit
voltage is 3.1 V, and it has a relatively high actual specific energy. PFC (CF x ) n is
chemically stable and thermally stable, but the cost is high.
Lithium inorganic electrolyte battery: using the inorganic solvent SOCl 2 . SO 2 Cl 2
. POCl 2 both as the positive active substance and electrolyte. The performances