Shin Jaewook, Kang Hyeonmuk, Lee Yongju, Ha Sang Hyeon, Cho EunAe
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu Daejeon 34141 Republic of Korea
Advanced Battery Center, KAIST Institute for NanoCentury, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu Daejeon 34141 Republic of Korea.
RSC Adv. 2022 Feb 9;12(8):4795-4804. doi: 10.1039/d1ra04588a. eCollection 2022 Feb 3.
The thermal battery, a key source for powering defensive power systems, employs Li alloy-based anodes. However, the alloying increases the reduction potential of Li which lowers the overall working voltage and energy output. To overcome these issues, Li alloy must be replaced with pure Li. Utilizing pure Li requires a structure that can hold liquefied Li because the working temperature for the thermal battery exceeds the melting point of Li. The liquefied Li can leak out of the anode, causing short-circuit. A Li-Fe electrode (LiFE) in which Fe powder holds liquefied Li has been developed. In LiFE, higher Li content can lead to higher energy output but increases the risk of Li leakage. Thus, Li content in the LiFE has been limited. Here, we demonstrate a novel core-shell electrode structure to achieve a higher energy output. The proposed core-shell LiFE incorporates a high Li content core and a low Li content shell; high energy comes from the core and the shell prevents the Li from leakage. The fabricated core-shell structured electrode demonstrates the high energy of 9074 W s, an increase by 1.66 times compared to the low Li content LiFE with the conventionally used Li content (5509 W s).
热电池是为防御性电力系统供电的关键电源,采用锂合金基阳极。然而,合金化会增加锂的还原电位,从而降低整体工作电压和能量输出。为克服这些问题,必须用纯锂取代锂合金。使用纯锂需要一种能够容纳液化锂的结构,因为热电池的工作温度超过了锂的熔点。液化锂可能会从阳极泄漏出来,导致短路。已经开发出一种锂铁电极(LiFE),其中铁粉容纳液化锂。在LiFE中,锂含量越高,能量输出越高,但锂泄漏的风险也会增加。因此,LiFE中的锂含量受到限制。在此,我们展示了一种新型的核壳电极结构,以实现更高的能量输出。所提出的核壳LiFE包含高锂含量的核和低锂含量的壳;高能量来自核,而壳可防止锂泄漏。制造的核壳结构电极展示出9074 W s的高能量,与具有传统锂含量(5509 W s)的低锂含量LiFE相比,增加了1.66倍。