ReLiable - Reversible Lithium-Air Batteries

Gasoline and diesel are excellent fuels for transportation, combining exceptional energy densities with low production costs and a simple infrastructure; the drawbacks are the limited resources and inherent CO2 emissions. Alternative carbon-neutral chemical fuels can be produced from sustainable electricity, but at a significant cost and energy loss. A higher efficiency can be reached in electric vehicles (EVs), but existing lithium-ion batteries reach <10% of the energy density and simply cannot meet the growing requirements for long range/heavy transportation and aviation.
The solution is likely to be found in the virgin territory between conventional batteries and chemical fuels. Reversible lithium-air batteries offer 10 times the driving range of Li-ion by use of open “air-electrodes”, where the metal ions react with O2 during discharge. The technology is known from non-reversible Zn-air batteries and Li-air batteries have recently been shown to be rechargeable, but only at excessive charging potentials, low current densities and with a poor cycle life. For Li-air battery systems to be technologically feasible and commercially viable, the materials and battery design must be based on an atomic level understanding of the fundamental mechanisms governing the electronic conduction and electrode-electrolyte interface reactions. Here, we propose an integrated computational and experimental approach to rational design, characterization and utilization of novel materials for electrochemical energy storage and conversion. By integration of computational methods in the industrial synthesis of new materials, application of in situ structural and electrochemical analysis methods, we will obtain the necessary insight into charge/discharge and degradation processes, to construct, test and manage the Li-air battery performance under varying operational conditions, e.g. gas, current and temperature.