Batteries are critical for today’s society and are also a hot topic in the materials research community. Electrolytes and the electrode/electrolyte interfaces/interphases play a determining role in batteries—a thermodynamically unstable but kinetically stable system enabled by electrolytes and the interfaces/interphases.
This tutorial covered fundamental interfacial electrochemistry, electrolyte materials, to electrode/electrolyte interfaces/interphases related to electrochemical energy storage.
8:30 am – 9:30 am—Part I: Kang Xu
Electrode/Liquid Electrolyte Interfaces and Interphases
The basic concepts of electrochemical interfaces and interphases in liquid electrolytes were covered, including a general overview of electrochemistry concepts in both nonaqueous solutions and aqueous solutions, solid/electrolyte interphases (SEI), dynamic evolution of interfaces and interphases and its characterization. Application examples includd SEI on metal anodes, graphite, silicon, sulfur cathodes and selected metal oxide cathodes.
9:30 am – 10:00 am—Break
10:00 am – 11:00 am—Part II: Nancy J. Dudney
Glass Solid State Electrolytes (GSSE) and their Interfaces/Interphases
Moving beyond electrode/liquid electrolyte systems, the electrode/GSSE is one of the enablers of solid state batteries. Topics include the basic concept of GSSE, GSSE materials and their properties, ion transport mechanisms, electrode/GSSE interfaces and interphases and the difference (advantages/disadvantages) between electrode/liquid electrolyte systems and electrode/GSSE systems.
11:00 am – 12:00 pm—Part III: Chunsheng Wang
Ceramic Oxide Crystalline Electrolytes and their Interfaces/Interphases
Great challenges exist for the application of ceramic oxide crystalline electrolytes in batteries, but they also present broader advantages that the above liquid electrolyte and GSSE do not have. In this part, the basic concept of ceramic oxide crystalline electrolytes, ion transport mechanisms, electrolyte materials and interface/interphase engineering were covered. It also included a sub-section to compare the three electrolytes (liquid, GSSE, ceramic oxide crystalline electrolytes), their interfaces/interphases and battery device engineering using these three electrolytes.