Gopalakrishnan Sai Gautam

Odyssey of Multivalent Cathode Materials: Open Questions and Future Challenges

The rapidly expanding field of nonaqueous multivalent intercalation batteries offers a promising way to overcome safety, cost, and energy density limitations of state-of-the-art Li-ion battery technology. We present a critical and rigorous analysis of the increasing volume of multivalent battery research, focusing on a wide range of intercalation cathode materials and the mechanisms of multivalent ion insertion and migration within those frameworks. The present analysis covers a wide variety of material chemistries, including chalcogenides, oxides, and polyanions, highlighting merits and challenges of each class of materials as multivalent cathodes. The review underscores the overlap of experiments and theory, ranging from charting the design metrics useful for developing the next generation of MV-cathodes to targeted in-depth studies rationalizing complex experimental results. On the basis of our critical review of the literature, we provide suggestions for future multivalent cathode studies, including a strong emphasis on the unambiguous characterization of the intercalation mechanisms.

Role of Structural H2O in Intercalation Electrodes: The Case of Mg in Nanocrystalline Xerogel-V2O5

Cointercalation is a potential approach to influence the voltage and mobility with which cations insert in electrodes for energy storage devices. Combining a robust thermodynamic model with first-principles calculations, we present a detailed investigation revealing the important role of H2O during ion intercalation in nanomaterials. We examine the scenario of Mg(2+) and H2O cointercalation in nanocrystalline Xerogel-V2O5, a potential cathode material to achieve energy density greater than Li-ion batteries. Water cointercalation in cathode materials could broadly impact an electrochemical system by influencing its voltages or causing passivation at the anode. The analysis of the stable phases of Mg-Xerogel V2O5 and voltages at different electrolytic conditions reveals a range of concentrations for Mg in the Xerogel and H2O in the electrolyte where there is no thermodynamic driving force for H2O to shuttle with Mg during electrochemical cycling. Also, we demonstrate that H2O shuttling with the Mg(2+) ions in wet electrolytes yields higher voltages than in dry electrolytes. The thermodynamic framework used to study water and Mg(2+) cointercalation in this work opens the door for studying the general phenomenon of solvent cointercalation observed in other complex solvent-electrode pairs used in the Li- and Na-ion chemical spaces.

The Intercalation Phase Diagram of Mg in V2O5 from First-Principles

We have investigated Mg intercalation into orthorhombic V2O5, one of only three cathodes known to reversibly intercalate Mg ions. By calculating the ground-state MgxV2O5 configurations and by developing a cluster expansion for the configurational disorder in δ-V2O5, a full temperature–composition phase diagram is derived. Our calculations indicate an equilibrium phase-separating behavior between fully demagnesiated α-V2O5 and fully magnesiated δ-V2O5, but also motivate the existence of potentially metastable solid solution transformation paths in both phases. We find significantly better mobility for Mg in the δ polymorph, suggesting that better performance can be achieved by cycling Mg in the δ phase.

First-principles evaluation of multi-valent cation insertion into orthorhombic V2O5

A systematic first-principles evaluation of the insertion behavior of multi-valent cations in orthorhombic V2O5 is performed. Layer spacing, voltage, phase stability, and ion mobility are computed for Li(+), Mg(2+), Zn(2+), Ca(2+), and Al(3+) intercalation in the α and δ polymorphs.

Elucidating the structure of the magnesium aluminum chloride complex electrolyte for magnesium-ion batteries

Non-aqueous Mg-ion batteries offer a promising way to overcome safety, costs, and energy density limitations of state-of-the-art Li-ion battery technology. We present a rigorous analysis of the magnesium aluminum chloride complex (MACC) in tetrahydrofuran (THF), one of the few electrolytes that can reversibly plate and strip Mg. We use ab initio calculations and classical molecular dynamics simulations to interrogate the MACC electrolyte composition with the goal of addressing two urgent questions that have puzzled battery researchers: (i) the functional species of the electrolyte, and (ii) the complex equilibria regulating the MACC speciation after prolonged electrochemical cycling, a process termed as conditioning, and after prolonged inactivity, a process called aging. A general computational strategy to untangle the complex structure of electrolytes, ionic liquids and other liquid media is presented. The analysis of formation energies and grand-potential phase diagrams of Mg–Al–Cl–THF suggests that the MACC electrolyte bears a simple chemical structure with few simple constituents, namely the electro-active species MgCl+ and AlCl4− in equilibrium with MgCl2 and AlCl3. Knowledge of the stable species of the MACC electrolyte allows us to determine the most important equilibria occurring during electrochemical cycling. We observe that Al deposition is always preferred to Mg deposition, explaining why freshly synthesized MACC cannot operate and needs to undergo preparatory conditioning. Similarly, we suggest that aluminum displacement and depletion from the solution upon electrolyte resting (along with continuous MgCl2 regeneration) represents one of the causes of electrolyte aging. Finally, we compute the NMR shifts from shielding tensors of selected molecules and ions providing fingerprints to guide future experimental investigations.

Understanding the Initial Stages of Reversible Mg Deposition and Stripping in Inorganic Nonaqueous Electrolytes

Multivalent (MV) battery architectures based on pairing a Mg metal anode with a high-voltage (∼3 V) intercalation cathode offer a realistic design pathway toward significantly surpassing the energy storage performance of traditional Li-ion-based batteries, but there are currently only few electrolyte systems that support reversible Mg deposition. Using both static first-principles calculations and ab initio molecular dynamics, we perform a comprehensive adsorption study of several salt and solvent species at the interface of Mg metal with an electrolyte of Mg2+ and Cl– dissolved in liquid tetrahydrofuran (THF). Our findings not only provide a picture of the stable species at the interface but also explain how this system can support reversible Mg deposition, and as such, we provide insights in how to design other electrolytes for Mg plating and stripping. The active depositing species are identified to be (MgCl)+ monomers coordinated by THF, which exhibit preferential adsorption on Mg compared to possible...

High magnesium mobility in ternary spinel chalcogenides

Magnesium batteries appear a viable alternative to overcome the safety and energy density limitations faced by current lithium-ion technology. The development of a competitive magnesium battery is plagued by the existing notion of poor magnesium mobility in solids. Here we demonstrate by using ab initio calculations, nuclear magnetic resonance, and impedance spectroscopy measurements that substantial magnesium ion mobility can indeed be achieved in close-packed frameworks (~ 0.01–0.1 mS cm–1 at 298 K), specifically in the magnesium scandium selenide spinel. Our theoretical predictions also indicate that high magnesium ion mobility is possible in other chalcogenide spinels, opening the door for the realization of other magnesium solid ionic conductors and the eventual development of an all-solid-state magnesium battery.Low magnesium mobility in solids represents a significant obstacle to the development of Mg intercalation batteries. Here the authors show that substantial magnesium ion mobility can be achieved in close-packed ternary selenide spinel materials.

Influence of Inversion on Mg Mobility and Electrochemistry in Spinels

Magnesium oxide and sulfide spinels have recently attracted interest as cathode and electrolyte materials for energy-dense Mg batteries, but their observed electrochemical performance depends strongly on synthesis conditions. Using first-principles calculations and percolation theory, we explore the extent to which spinel inversion influences Mg2+ ionic mobility in MgMn2O4 as a prototypical cathode, and MgIn2S4 as a potential solid electrolyte. We find that spinel inversion and the resulting changes of the local cation ordering give rise to both increased and decreased Mg2+ migration barriers, along specific migration pathways, in the oxide as well as the sulfide. To quantify the impact of spinel inversion on macroscopic Mg2+ transport, we determine the percolation thresholds in both MgMn2O4 and MgIn2S4. Furthermore, we analyze the impact of inversion on the electrochemical properties of the MgMn2O4 cathode via changes in the phase behavior, average Mg insertion voltages and extractable capacities, at var...

On the Balance of Intercalation and Conversion Reactions in Battery Cathodes

We present a thermodynamic analysis of the driving forces for intercalation and conversion reactions in battery cathodes across a range of possible working ion, transition metal, and anion chemistries. Using this body of results, we analyze the importance of polymorph selection as well as chemical composition on the ability of a host cathode to support intercalation reactions. We find that the accessibility of high energy charged polymorphs in oxides generally leads to larger intercalation voltages favoring intercalation reactions, whereas sulfides and selenides tend to favor conversion reactions. Furthermore, we observe that Cr-containing cathodes favor intercalation more strongly than those with other transition metals. Finally, we conclude that two-electron reduction of transition metals (as is possible with the intercalation of a

Role of Point Defects in Spinel Mg Chalcogenide Conductors

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