The current paradigm in lithium-ion battery technology pairs Li+ ions with a liquid electrolyte, a potentially dangerous combination. These batteries have a safety problem due to the flammable nature of the liquid electrolyte as the formation of lithium dendrites, form during charging and discharging, can short circuit the cell, resulting in resistive heating and rupture of the cell, causing fire or explosion. A potentially safer alternative are solid-state electrolytes, which will replace the flammable liquid electrolyte and limit dendrite formation due to mechanical toughness. This project aims to synthesize conductive electrolytes using co-crystalline materials (compounds with unique properties that are composed of a set ratio of lithium salt to an organic matrix material) and to characterize the properties of the resulting electrolytes.<br/>Lithium-borate salt complexes were used to synthesize these co-crystal compounds. The primary salt of interest is lithium tetraphenylborate. The lithium cation should have minimal interaction with the tetraphenylborate anion, due to the tetraphenylborate anion’s lack of lone pairs and the lithium cation’s low affinity for the solvating matrix component. Together this is predicted to reduce the cation-anion and cation-matrix interactions for the lithium cation, and increase the anion- matrix interaction, and thus improve the conductivity within the crystalline structure. Results will be presented that show that this salt can be incorporated into a crystalline material but produce unstable crystals. Characterization via FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy), NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Spectroscopy), EIS (Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy), TGA (Thermal Gravimetric Analysis), DSC (Differential Scanning Calorimetry) and XRD (X-ray Diffraction Spectroscopy) will be presented.<br/>

Synthesis and characterization of lithium tetraphenylborate cocrystals for use as electrolytes

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.