A room temperature rechargeable Li <sub>2</sub> O-based lithium-air battery enabled by a solid electrolyte
Alireza Kondori, Mohammadreza Esmaeilirad, Ahmad M. Harzandi, Rachid Amine, Mahmoud Tamadoni Saray, Lei Yu, Tongchao Liu, Jianguo Wen, Nannan Shan, Hsien‐Hau Wang, Anh T. Ngo, Paul C. Redfern, Christopher S. Johnson, Khalil Amine, Reza Shahbazian‐Yassar, Larry A. Curtiss, Mohammad Asadi
Abstract
A lithium-air battery based on lithium oxide (Li 2 O) formation can theoretically deliver an energy density that is comparable to that of gasoline. Lithium oxide formation involves a four-electron reaction that is more difficult to achieve than the one- and two-electron reaction processes that result in lithium superoxide (LiO 2 ) and lithium peroxide (Li 2 O 2 ), respectively. By using a composite polymer electrolyte based on Li 10 GeP 2 S 12 nanoparticles embedded in a modified polyethylene oxide polymer matrix, we found that Li 2 O is the main product in a room temperature solid-state lithium-air battery. The battery is rechargeable for 1000 cycles with a low polarization gap and can operate at high rates. The four-electron reaction is enabled by a mixed ion–electron-conducting discharge product and its interface with air.