A lithium-air battery and gas handling system demonstrator

Area of Science:

• Electrochemistry
• Energy Storage Systems
• Materials Science

Background:

• Lithium-air (Li-air) batteries offer high energy density (>400 W h kg-1).
• Operation in air necessitates managing CO2 and H2O to prevent side product formation (Li2CO3, LiOH).
• Effective gas handling is crucial for Li-air battery performance and longevity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present the first integrated Li-air battery with in-line gas handling.
• To evaluate the simultaneous performance of the Li-air cell and gas scrubber.
• To investigate the impact of gas flow and composition on cell capacity and identify design limitations.

Main Methods:

• Development of an integrated Li-air battery system with in-line gas handling capabilities.
• Simultaneous monitoring of Li-air cell performance and gas scrubber efficiency.
• Controlled variation of oxygen (O2) flow rates and gas stream composition.

Main Results:

• Oxygen flow rate significantly affects Li-air cell capacity.
• Existing air-electrode designs, adapted from fuel cells, require higher gas flow rates than theoretically needed.
• These higher flow rates increase scrubber load and solvent management demands.

Conclusions:

• Integrated gas handling is essential for controlling Li-air battery operation and performance.
• Current air-electrode designs are suboptimal for Li-air applications, necessitating redesign.
• Addressing gas flow dynamics and electrode limitations is key to realizing practical Li-air batteries.