With energy densities ten times higher than conventional lithium-ion batteries, lithium-air batteries could one day enable electric vehicles to travel distances comparable to gasoline-powered cars. Several challenges, however, have prevented lithium-air batteries from reaching their potential.
Work done by researchers at the Univ. of Cambridge demonstrates strategies to address those issues — pointing the way toward a commercially viable lithium-air battery.
“What we’ve achieved is a significant advance for this technology and suggests whole new areas for research,” says Clare Grey, a professor of chemistry at the Univ. of Cambridge. “We haven’t solved all the problems inherent to this chemistry, but our results do show routes forward towards a practical device,” Grey says.
▲ Scientists have changed the chemistry of the lithium-oxygen battery by using a highly porous graphene cathode and adding a lithium iodide redox mediator. During discharge, the lithium ions come out of the anode and travel to the cathode, where they react with oxygen to form lithium hydroxide. The lithium iodide mediator shuttles...
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