A lithium polymer battery, or more correctly, lithium-ion polymer battery, is a rechargeable battery of lithium-ion technology using a polymer electrolyte instead of a liquid electrolyte. Highly conductive semisolid (gel) polymers form this electrolyte. These batteries provide higher specific energy than other lithium battery types. They are used in applications where weight is critical, such as mobile devices, radio-controlled aircraft, and some electric vehicles.
Strontium titanate is an oxide of strontium and titanium with the chemical formula SrTiO3. At room temperature, it is a centrosymmetric paraelectric material with a perovskite structure. At low temperatures it approaches a ferroelectric phase transition with a very large dielectric constant ~104 but remains paraelectric down to the lowest temperatures measured as a result of quantum fluctuations, making it a quantum paraelectric. It was long thought to be a wholly artificial material, until 1982 when its natural counterpart—discovered in Siberia and named tausonite—was recognised by the IMA. Tausonite remains an extremely rare mineral in nature, occurring as very tiny crystals. Its most important application has been in its synthesized form wherein it is occasionally encountered as a diamond simulant, in precision optics, in varistors, and in advanced ceramics.
A regenerative fuel cell or reverse fuel cell (RFC) is a fuel cell run in reverse mode, which consumes electricity and chemical B to produce chemical A. By definition, the process of any fuel cell could be reversed. However, a given device is usually optimized for operating in one mode and may not be built in such a way that it can be operated backwards. Standard fuel cells operated backwards generally do not make very efficient systems unless they are purpose-built to do so as with high-pressure electrolysers, regenerative fuel cells, solid-oxide electrolyser cells and unitized regenerative fuel cells.
Proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC), also known as polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells, are a type of fuel cell being developed mainly for transport applications, as well as for stationary fuel-cell applications and portable fuel-cell applications. Their distinguishing features include lower temperature/pressure ranges and a special proton-conducting polymer electrolyte membrane. PEMFCs generate electricity and operate on the opposite principle to PEM electrolysis, which consumes electricity. They are a leading candidate to replace the aging alkaline fuel-cell technology, which was used in the Space Shuttle.
A solid oxide fuel cell is an electrochemical conversion device that produces electricity directly from oxidizing a fuel. Fuel cells are characterized by their electrolyte material; the SOFC has a solid oxide or ceramic electrolyte.
A proton-exchange membrane, or polymer-electrolyte membrane (PEM), is a semipermeable membrane generally made from ionomers and designed to conduct protons while acting as an electronic insulator and reactant barrier, e.g. to oxygen and hydrogen gas. This is their essential function when incorporated into a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) of a proton-exchange membrane fuel cell or of a proton-exchange membrane electrolyser: separation of reactants and transport of protons while blocking a direct electronic pathway through the membrane.
A protonic ceramic fuel cell or PCFC is a fuel cell based around a ceramic, solid, electrolyte material as the proton conductor from anode to cathode. These fuel cells produce electricity by removing an electron from a hydrogen atom, pushing the charged hydrogen atom through the ceramic membrane, and returning the electron to the hydrogen on the other side of the ceramic membrane during a reaction with oxygen. The reaction of many proposed fuels in PCFCs produce electricity and heat, the latter keeping the device at a suitable temperature. Efficient proton conductivity through most discovered ceramic electrolyte materials require elevated operational temperatures around 400-700 degrees Celsius, however intermediate temperature (200-400 degrees Celsius) ceramic fuel cells and lower temperature alternative are an active area of research. In addition to hydrogen gas, the ability to operate at intermediate and high temperatures enables the use of a variety of liquid hydrogen carrier fuels, including: ammonia, and methane. The technology shares the thermal and kinetic advantages of high temperature molten carbonate and solid oxide fuel cells, while exhibiting all of the intrinsic benefits of proton conduction in proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) and phosphoric acid fuel cells (PAFC). PCFCs exhaust water at the cathode and unused fuel, fuel reactant products and fuel impurities at the anode. Common chemical compositions of the ceramic membranes are barium zirconate (BaZrO3), barium cerate (BaCeO3), caesium dihydrogen phosphate (CsH2PO4), and complex solid solutions of those materials with other ceramic oxides. The acidic oxide ceramics are sometimes broken into their own class of protonic ceramic fuel cells termed "solid acid fuel cells".
Nanoionics is the study and application of phenomena, properties, effects, methods and mechanisms of processes connected with fast ion transport (FIT) in all-solid-state nanoscale systems. The topics of interest include fundamental properties of oxide ceramics at nanometer length scales, and fast-ion conductor /electronic conductor heterostructures. Potential applications are in electrochemical devices for conversion and storage of energy, charge and information. The term and conception of nanoionics were first introduced by A.L. Despotuli and V.I. Nikolaichik in January 1992.
In materials science, fast ion conductors are solid conductors with highly mobile ions. These materials are important in the area of solid state ionics, and are also known as solid electrolytes and superionic conductors. These materials are useful in batteries and various sensors. Fast ion conductors are used primarily in solid oxide fuel cells. As solid electrolytes they allow the movement of ions without the need for a liquid or soft membrane separating the electrodes. The phenomenon relies on the hopping of ions through an otherwise rigid crystal structure.
Lanthanum strontium cobalt ferrite (LSCF), also called lanthanum strontium cobaltite ferrite is a specific ceramic oxide derived from lanthanum cobaltite of the ferrite group. It is a phase containing lanthanum(III) oxide, strontium oxide, cobalt oxide and iron oxide with the formula La
xSr
1-xCo
yFe
1-yO
3, where 0.1≤x≤0.4 and 0.2≤y≤0.8.
Lanthanum strontium manganite (LSM or LSMO) is an oxide ceramic material with the general formula La1−xSrxMnO3, where x describes the doping level.
Genoa Joint Laboratories (GJL) is a scientific research activity founded in 2002, combining expertise in electroceramics and electrochemistry of three facilities: National Research Council - Institute for Energetics and Interphases (CNR-IENI), Department of Chemical and Process Engineering with University of Genova (DICHeP), and the Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry with University of Genova (DCCI), all located in Genoa, Italy.
Lithium cobalt oxide, sometimes called lithium cobaltate or lithium cobaltite, is a chemical compound with formula LiCoO
2. The cobalt atoms are formally in the +3 oxidation state, hence the IUPAC name lithium cobalt(III) oxide.
A solid oxide electrolyzer cell (SOEC) is a solid oxide fuel cell that runs in regenerative mode to achieve the electrolysis of water by using a solid oxide, or ceramic, electrolyte to produce hydrogen gas and oxygen. The production of pure hydrogen is compelling because it is a clean fuel that can be stored, making it a potential alternative to batteries, methane, and other energy sources. Electrolysis is currently the most promising method of hydrogen production from water due to high efficiency of conversion and relatively low required energy input when compared to thermochemical and photocatalytic methods.
Solid-state ionics is the study of ionic-electronic mixed conductor and fully ionic conductors and their uses. Some materials that fall into this category include inorganic crystalline and polycrystalline solids, ceramics, glasses, polymers, and composites. Solid-state ionic devices, such as solid oxide fuel cells, can be much more reliable and long-lasting, especially under harsh conditions, than comparable devices with fluid electrolytes.
The lithium–air battery (Li–air) is a metal–air electrochemical cell or battery chemistry that uses oxidation of lithium at the anode and reduction of oxygen at the cathode to induce a current flow.
NASICON is an acronym for sodium (Na) super ionic conductor, which usually refers to a family of solids with the chemical formula Na1+xZr2SixP3−xO12, 0 < x < 3. In a broader sense, it is also used for similar compounds where Na, Zr and/or Si are replaced by isovalent elements. NASICON compounds have high ionic conductivities, on the order of 10−3 S/cm, which rival those of liquid electrolytes. They are caused by hopping of Na ions among interstitial sites of the NASICON crystal lattice.
A triple phase boundary (TPB) is a geometrical class of phase boundary and the location of contact between three different phases. A simple example of a TPB is a coastline where land, air and sea meet to create an energetic location driven by solar, wind and wave energy capable of supporting a high level of biodiversity. This concept is particularly important in the description of electrodes in fuel cells and batteries. For example for fuel cells, the three phases are an ion conductor (electrolyte), an electron conductor, and a virtual "porosity" phase for transporting gaseous or liquid fuel molecules. The electrochemical reactions that fuel cells use to produce electricity occur in the presence of these three phases. Triple phase boundaries are thus the electrochemically active sites within electrodes.
A polymer electrolyte is a polymer matrix capable of ion conduction. Much like other types of electrolyte—liquid and solid-state—polymer electrolytes aid in movement of charge between the anode and cathode of a cell. The use of polymers as an electrolyte was first demonstrated using dye-sensitized solar cells. The field has expanded since and is now primarily focused on the development of polymer electrolytes with applications in batteries, fuel cells, and membranes.
Lithium aluminium germanium phosphate, typically known with the acronyms LAGP or LAGPO, is an inorganic ceramic solid material whose general formula is Li
1+xAl
xGe
2-x(PO
4)
3. LAGP belongs to the NASICON family of solid conductors and has been applied as a solid electrolyte in all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries. Typical values of ionic conductivity in LAGP at room temperature are in the range of 10–5 - 10–4 S/cm, even if the actual value of conductivity is strongly affected by stoichiometry, microstructure, and synthesis conditions. Compared to lithium aluminium titanium phosphate (LATP), which is another phosphate-based lithium solid conductor, the absence of titanium in LAGP improves its stability towards lithium metal. In addition, phosphate-based solid electrolytes have superior stability against moisture and oxygen compared to sulfide-based electrolytes like Li
10GeP
2S
12 (LGPS) and can be handled safely in air, thus simplifying the manufacture process. Since the best performances are encountered when the stoichiometric value of x is 0.5, the acronym LAGP usually indicates the particular composition of Li
1.5Al
0.5Ge
1.5(PO
4)
3, which is also the typically used material in battery applications.
