1. Schematic of Rechargable Li Battery
Li-ion batteries are among the best battery systems in terms of energy density (W-h/kg & W-h/L). This makes them very attractive for hybrid automobiles & portable electronics.
Taken from A. Manthiram & J. Kim, Chem. Mater. 10, (1998).
Chem Solid State Chemistry

2. Cathode Materials Considerations
1. The transition metal ion should have a large work function (highly oxidizing) to maximize cell voltage.
2. The cathode material should allow an insertion/extraction of a large amount of lithium to maximize the capacity.
High cell capacity + high cell voltage = high energy density
3. The lithium insertion/extraction process should be reversible and should induce little or no structural changes. This prolongs the lifetime of the electrode.
4. The cathode material should have good electronic and Li+ ionic conductivities. This enhances the speed with which the battery can be discharged.
5. The cathode should be chemically stable over the entire voltage range and not react with the electrolyte.
6. The cathode material should be inexpensive, environmentally friendly and lightweight.
Chem Solid State Chemistry

3. Chem 754 - Solid State Chemistry
LixTiS2
Structure type is CdI2, hcp packing of anions, octahedral Ti
Li intercalates between the I- layers
Pure TiS2 is a semi-metal, conductivity increases upon insertion of Li (high electronic conductivity)
Lithium insertion varies from 1  x  0
10% expansion, TiS2  LiTiS2
Capacity ~ 250 A-h/kg
Voltage ~ 1.9 Volts (This is the major limitation of the TiS2 cathode)
Energy density ~ 480 W-h/kg
Li Inserts in this layer
Li Inserts in this layer
Chem Solid State Chemistry

4. Chem 754 - Solid State Chemistry
Li1-xCoO2
LiMO2 structures are ordered derivatives of rock salt (ordering occurs along alternate 111 layers)
Li intercalates into octahedral sites between the edge sharing CoO2 layers
Good electrical conductor
Lithium de-intercalation varies from 0  x  0.5 and is reversible
Capacity ~ 45 A-h/kg
Voltage ~ 3.7 Volts
Energy density ~ 165 W-h/kg
Cobalt is expensive (relative to Ti, Ni and Mn).
Chem Solid State Chemistry

5. Chem 754 - Solid State Chemistry
Li1-xMn2O4
Structure type is defect spinel
Mn ions occupy the octahedral sites, while Li+ resides on the tetrahedral sites.
Rather poor electrical conductivity
Lithium de-intercalation varies from 0  x  1, comparable to Li1-xCoO2
Presence of Mn3+ gives a Jahn-Teller distortion that limits cycling. High Li content stabilizes layer like structure.
Capacity ~ 36 A-h/kg
Voltage ~ 3.8 Volts
Energy density ~ 137 W-h/kg
Mn is cheap and non-toxic.
Chem Solid State Chemistry

6. Chem 754 - Solid State Chemistry
Solid Oxide Fuel Cells
A fuel cell generates electricity and heat by electrochemically combining a gaseous fuel and an oxidizing gas, via an ion conducting electrolyte, typically at elevated temperatures (eg ºC)
Typical Fuels -
2H2 + O2 (from the air)  H2O
2CO + O2 (from the air)  2CO2
Advantages vs. Conventional Power Generation Methods (e.g. Steam Turbines)
Higher conversion efficiency
Lower CO2 emissions
See for more details
Chem Solid State Chemistry

7. Schematic of a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell
Taken from
Chem Solid State Chemistry

8. Materials Issues (SOFC)
Cathode (Air Electrode) & Anode (H2/CO Electrode)
High electronic conductivity
Chemical and mechanical stability (at ºC in oxidizing conditions for the cathode and in highly reducing conditions for the anode)
Thermal expansion coefficient that matches electrolyte
Sufficient porosity to facilitate transport of O2 from the gas phase to the electrolyte
Electrolyte (Air Electrode)
Free of porosity
High oxygen ion conductivity
Very low electronic conductivity
Interconnect (between Cathode and Anode)
High electronic conductivity and negligible ionic conductivity
Stable in both oxidizing and reducing atmospheres
Chemical and thermal expansion compatibility with other components
Chem Solid State Chemistry

9. Favored Materials (SOFC)
Cathode (Air Electrode)
(La1-xCax)MnO3 (Perovskite)
(La1-xSrx)(Co1-xFex)O3 (Perovskite)
(Sm1-xSrx)CoO3 (Perovskite)
(Pr1-xSrx)(Co1-xMnx)O3 (Perovskite)
Anode (H2/CO Electrode)
Ni/Zr1-xYxO2 Composites
Electrolyte (Air Electrode)
Zr1-xYxO2 (Fluorite)
Ce1-xRxO2 , R = Rare Earth Ion (Fluorite)
Bi2-xRxO3 , R = Rare Earth Ion (Defect Fluorite)
Gd1.9Ca0.1Ti2O6.95 (Pyrochlore)
(La,Nd)0.8Sr0.2Ga0.8Mg0.2O2.8 (Perovskite)
Interconnect (between Cathode and Anode)
La1-xSrxCrO3 (Perovskite)
Chem Solid State Chemistry

10. Chem 754 - Solid State Chemistry
O2 Gas Sensor
The partial pressure of oxygen in the sample gas, PO2(sample), can be determined from the measured potential, V, via the Nernst equation.
Because of the low ionic conductivity at low temperatures, the sensor is only useful above 650 ºC.
V = (RT/4F) ln[{(PO2(ref.)}/{(PO2(sample)}]
See for details
Chem Solid State Chemistry

11. Design Principles: O2- Conductors
High concentration of anion vacancies
necessary for O2- hopping to occur
High Symmetry
provides equivalent potentials between occupied and vacant sites
High Specific Free Volume (Free Volume/Total Volume)
void space/vacancies provide diffusion pathways for O2- ions
Polarizable cations (including cations with stereoactive lone pairs)
polarizable cations can deform during hopping, which lowers the activation energy
Favorable chemical stability, cost and thermal expansion characteristics
for commercial applications
Chem Solid State Chemistry

12. Phase Transitions in ZrO2
Room Temperature
Monoclinic (P21/c)
7 coordinate Zr
4 coord. + 3 coord. O2-
High Temperature
Cubic (Fm3m)
cubic coordination for Zr
tetrahedral coord. for O2-
Chem Solid State Chemistry

13. Effect of Dopants: ZrO2, CeO2
Doping ZrO2 (Zr1-xYxO2-x/2, Zr1-xCaxO2-x) fulfills two purposes
Introduces anion vacancies (lower valent cation needed)
Stabilizes the high symmetry cubic structure (larger cations are most effective)
We can also consider replacing Zr with a larger cation (i.e. Ce4+) in order to stabilize the cubic fluorite structure, or with a lower valent cation (i.e. Bi3+) to increase the vacancy concentration.
Compound r Specific Free Conductivity
(Angstroms) Volume @ 800 ºC
Zr0.8Y0.2O S/cm
Ce0.8Gd0.2O S/cm
d-Bi2O S/cm (730 C)
Bi2O3 is only cubic from 730 ºC to it’s melting point of 830 ºC. Doping is necessary to stabilize the cubic structure to lower temps.
Chem Solid State Chemistry

14. Chem 754 - Solid State Chemistry
Gd2Ti2O7 Pyrochlore
The pyrochlore structure can be derived from fluorite, by removing 1/8 of the oxygens, ordering the two cations and ordering the oxygen vacancies.
By replacing some of the Gd3+ with Ca2+ oxygen vacancies in the A2O network are created, significantly increasing the ionic conductivity (at 1000 ºC):
Gd2Ti2O7
s = 1  10-4 S/cm, EA = 0.94 eV
Gd1.8Ca0.2Ti2O6.95
s = 5  10-2 S/cm, EA = 0.63 eV
There is an opportunity to obtain mixed electronic-ionic conductivity in the pyrochlore structure.
M2O6 Network
A2O Network
Chem Solid State Chemistry

15. Chem 754 - Solid State Chemistry
Ba2In2O5 Brownmillerite
The brownmillerite structure can be derived from perovskite, by removing 1/6 of the oxygens and ordering the vacancies so that 50% of the smaller cations are in distorted tetrahedral coordination.
In Ba2In2O5 at 800 ºC the oxygen vacancies disorder throughout the tetrahedral layer, and the ionic conductivity jumps from 10-3 S/cm to 10-1 S/cm.
BaZrO3-Ba2In2O5 solid solutions absorb water to fill oxygen vacancies and become good proton conductors over the temperature range ºC.
Tetrahedral Layer
Octahedral Layer
Chem Solid State Chemistry

16. Aurivillius and BIMEVOX phases
Bi2WO6 is a member of the Aurivilius structure family. The structure contains 2D perovskite-like sheets made up of corner sharing octahedra, stacked with Bi2O22+ layers.
Bi4V2O11 is a defect Aurivillius phase, better written as (Bi2O2)VO3.5, where 1/8 of the oxygen sites in the perovskite layer are vacant. Conductivity at 600 ºC is the highest ever reported for an O2- conductor ~ 0.2 S/cm.
Only the perovskite oxygens are mobile.
Normally Bi4V2O11 undergoes phase transitions upon cooling that lower it’s ionic conductivity, but doping onto the V site stabilizes the HT phase. These phases are generally called BIMEVOX phases. (Bi2O2)V0.9Cu0.1O3.35 has a conductivity of 0.01 S/cm at 350 ºC !!
Chem Solid State Chemistry

17. Chem 754 - Solid State Chemistry
Summary O2- Conductors
It is generally true that dopants have to be added either to introduce vacancies, or to stabilize the high temperature/high symmetry phase
Among fluorite based O2- conductors both doped CeO2 and Bi2O3 have higher conductivities than stabilized ZrO2, but both are less chemically stable. In particular they are prone to reduction. This limits their use.
Brownmillerite conductors show high conductivity, but are prone to become electrically conducting under mildly reducing conditions. They show promise as proton conductors.
Ionic conductors based on Bi4V2O11 (BIMEVOX) show very high conductivity for low temperature applications.
Chem Solid State Chemistry