A lithium-ion battery based on an ionic liquid electrolyte, tin-carbon nanostructured anode, and Li2O-ZrO2-coated Li[Ni0.8Co0.15Al0.05]O2 cathode

This study describes the characteristics of a lithium-ion battery employing an ionic liquid (IL)-based electrolyte, a Li2O-ZrO2-coated Li[Ni0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2] cathode, and a nanostructured tin-carbon (Sn-C) composite anode. The structure and morphology of the cathode and anode materials were studied using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The properties of the IL-based electrolyte were studied in terms of conductivity, lithium-ion transport, electrochemical and thermal stability by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, voltammetry, and thermogravimetry. The battery, based on a lithium intercalation/de-intercalation process at the cathode and a lithium alloying/de-alloying process at the anode, showed a stable capacity of 100mAhg-1evolving at approximately 3.3V. The cell configuration proposed here is expected to have high safety due to the nonflammability of the IL-based electrolyte.