Aluminium-poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) rechargeable battery with ionic liquid electrolyte

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2019.101176Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Demonstration of an alternative aluminium battery with 3D conductive polymer cathode.

  • Use of highly stable 3D conductive polymer cathodes in chloroaluminate ionic liquid.

  • Efficient coulombic efficiency of over 95%.

  • Comparable specific energy and power to other non-aqueous aluminium batteries: 50–64 Wh kg−1 and 32–40 W kg−1.

  • High charge rates up to 80C.

Abstract

Aluminium is one of the promising negative electrode materials for modern batteries. It is environmentally abundant, affordable and recyclable, and its three-electron redox reaction offers high theoretical specific energy and power. However, the development of a suitable positive electrode continues to limit the practical performance of aluminium batteries. In this study, the application of a 3D conductive polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) as a potential positive electrode material is reported. The battery performance, C-rate versus capacity extraction and successive charge/discharge cycling of a full cell (aluminium (-); PEDOT (+); EMImCl-AlCl3 ionic liquid electrolyte) is investigated. The design of the PEDOT electrode (using 3D reticulated vitreous carbon as substrate) is studied, and is supported by microstructure characterisation. The aluminium-PEDOT battery provides 50–64 Wh kg−1 specific energy and 32–40 W kg−1 specific power. The battery has a coulombic efficiency >95%, stable operation over 100 cycles and charge rates up to 80C. In summary, direct and meaningful progress has been made towards achieving useful capacity and cycling stability from aluminium batteries intended for future energy storage.

Graphical abstract

Schematic illustration of the charging and discharging reaction of an aluminium-PEDOT battery with imidazolium-based chloroaluminate EMImCl-AlCl3 ionic liquid.

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Section snippets

Introduction and broader context

Modern electronic technologies, such as electromobility, medical implants and robotics, are developing at an impressive pace, shaping modern societies by making our world more connected, safer and cleaner. However, reaching the full potential of such technologies heavily relies on the device that is powering them – the battery. Innovations in high-performance energy storage devices is somehow limited since the introduction of lithium batteries in the early 90s [1]. This is mainly because of the

Electro-Polymerisation of PEDOT electrodes

The electro-polymerisation of EDOT was performed by cyclic voltammetry from 0 V to 2.4 V vs. Al|Al(III) in Lewis neutral 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride-aluminium chloride (EMImCl-AlCl3) (χ(EMImCl):χ(AlCl3) = 50 mol-%:50 mol-%) with 0.1 mol dm−3 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) (Alfa Aesar; 97%) at 100 mV s−1, over 10 cycles at 25 °C according to Schoetz et al. [28]. The polymer was rinsed with monomer-free Lewis neutral EMImCl-AlCl3 after polymerisation to remove residual monomer on the

Characteristic charge and discharge behaviour

The charge and discharge curve for an aluminium-PEDOT battery (Fig. 3) shows several plateaus between 0.5 V and 2.2 V [27]. The open-circuit potential in the fully charged state is 2.1 V. The low potential drop of 100 mV between the charging and starting discharge potential shows the good conductivity of the combination of Lewis neutral EMImCl-AlCl3 in the PEDOT electrode and Lewis acidic EMImCl-AlCl3 at the aluminium electrode, forming a gradient in electrolyte acidity between the electrodes.

Battery charging

Conclusions

This research studied the cycling characteristics and behaviour of a rechargeable aluminium-PEDOT battery in chloroaluminate ionic liquid electrolyte:

  • a)

    The aluminium-PEDOT battery can be charged and discharged reversibly in the potential window of 0.5–2.2 V.

  • b)

    The calculated battery characteristic values such as specific energy and power are in the range of 50–64 Wh kg−1 and 32–40 W kg−1.

  • c)

    The cell reaches a high cycle stability over 100 cycles with a coulombic efficiency ≥95% and shows no

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Theresa Schoetz: Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing. Ben Craig: Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing. Carlos Ponce de Leon: Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing. Andreas Bund: Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing. Mikito Ueda: Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing. Chee Tong John Low: Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing.

Declaration of Competing Interests

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgements

This study is supported by the Centre for Doctoral Training in Sustainable Infrastructure Systems at the University of Southampton [EP/L01582X/1] and the International Consortium of Nanotechnology of the Lloyd's Register Foundation [G0086]. We thank Dr Richard Pearce from the National Oceanography Centre for his assistance in performing the scanning electron microscopy measurements.

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