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Review
. 2020 Dec 16;6(2):1043-1053.
doi: 10.1021/acsomega.0c04163. eCollection 2021 Jan 19.

Recent Trends in Electrode and Electrolyte Design for Aluminum Batteries

Sandeep Das  1 , Surya Sekhar Manna  1 , Biswarup Pathak  1
Affiliations
Review

Recent Trends in Electrode and Electrolyte Design for Aluminum Batteries

Sandeep Das et al. ACS Omega. .

Abstract

Due to the drawbacks in commercially known lithium-ion batteries (LIB) such as safety, availability, and cost issues, aluminum batteries are being hotly pursued in the research field of energy storage. Al being abundant, stable, and possessing high volumetric capacity has been found to be attractive among the next generation secondary batteries. Various unwanted side reactions in the case of aqueous electrolytes have shifted the attention toward nonaqueous electrolytes for Al batteries. Unlike LIBs, Al batteries are based on intercalation/deintercalation of ions on the cathode side and deposition/stripping of Al on the anodic side during the charge/discharge cycle of the battery. Hence, to provide a clear understanding of the recent developments in Al batteries, we have presented an overview concentrating on the choice of suitable cathodes and electrolytes involving aluminum chloride derived ions (AlCl4 -, AlCl2 +, AlCl2+, etc.). We elaborate the importance of innovation in terms of structure and morphology to improve the cathode materials as well as the necessary properties to look for in a suitable nonaqueous electrolyte. The significance of computational modeling is also discussed. The future perspectives are discussed which can improve the performance and reduce the manufacturing cost simultaneously to conceive Al batteries for a wide range of applications.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing financial interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) Schematic diagram of the discharging mechanism for a typical ionic-liquid-based Al battery designed by Dai and co-workers, along with its (b) galvanostatic charge–discharge curves at a current density of 66 mA/g and (c) long-term stability test. Reprinted with permission from ref (10). Copyright 2015 Springer Nature.
Scheme 1
Scheme 1. Chronological Advancements in the Exploration of Suitable Cathode Materials and Electrolytes for Nonaqueous Al Batteries
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) Design strategy of the expanded graphitic foam cathode oriented perpendicular to the current collector. Reprinted with permission from ref (11c). Copyright 2016 John Wiley and Sons. (b) Superior galvanostatic charge/discharge curves for Al/kish graphite battery. Reprinted with permission from ref (11d). Copyright 2017 American Chemical Society. (c) Illustration of the design for trihigh tricontinuous graphite cathode for improved ion diffusion. Reprinted with permission from ref (14c). Copyright 2017 Science Advances. (d) Variation of AlCl4 diffusivity with decreasing layers of graphite. Reprinted from ref (14a). Copyright 2016 American Chemical Society. (e) Cyclic performance and voltage profiles showing better electrochemical performance of large-sized few-layer graphene compared to small-sized few-layer graphene. Reprinted with permission from ref (14b). Copyright 2017 John Wiley and Sons.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a) Diffusion energy barrier profiles for 3D C3N bulk, 2D C3N bilayer, and outer surface of 1D C3N nanotube signifying the easier diffusion for low-dimensional materials. Reprinted with permission from ref (11f). Copyright 2018 Royal Society of Chemistry. (b) Illustration depicting graphene nanoribbons on porous 3D graphene cathode. Reprinted with permission from ref (15a). Copyright 2017 John Wiley and Sons. (c) Illustration of unzipped multiwalled carbon nantubes. Reprinted with permission from ref (15b). Copyright 2019 Elsevier. (d) AlCl4-intercalated carbon nanoscroll cathodes. Reprinted from ref (15c). Copyright 2018 American Chemical Society.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Electrochemical performance (discharge voltage and specific capacity) of representative cathode materials for Al batteries.,,,,,−,,
Scheme 2
Scheme 2. (a) “Electrolyte Triangle” for an Ideal Electrolyte, (b) Stability Diagram of the Electrolyte, and (c) Imidazolium Cation Structure Varied with Different Alkyl Group (R and R′)
Reprinted with permission from ref (20). Copyright 2020 Royal Society of Chemistry.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Optimized structures of the considered ionic liquid (a–g) and molten salt (h,i) electrolytes: (a) EMIM-AlCl4, (b) PMIM-AlCl4, (c) BMIM-AlCl4, (d) DMPI-AlCl4, (e) BMP-AlCl4, (f) HMIM-AlCl4, (g) OMIM-AlCl4, (h) [AlCl2(U)2]-AlCl4, (i) [AlCl2(AcAm)2]-AlCl4. Reprinted with permission from ref (20). Copyright 2020 Royal Society of Chemistry.
Figure 6
Figure 6
(a) Temperature dependence on density of AlCl3-amide IL analogues, AlCl3/amide = 1.3. (b) AlCl3/amide molar ratio dependence on density of AlCl3-amide IL analogues, T = 333 K. (c) Temperature dependence on the viscosity of AlCl3-amide IL analogues. Reprinted with permission from ref (25a). Copyright 2017 Elsevier.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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