Abstract
Recently, interest in aluminium ion batteries with aluminium anodes, graphite cathodes and ionic liquid electrolytes has increased; however, much remains to be done to increase the cathode capacity and to understand details of the anion-graphite intercalation mechanism. Here, an aluminium ion battery cell made using pristine natural graphite flakes achieves a specific capacity of ∼110 mAh g-1 with Coulombic efficiency ∼1/498%, at a current density of 99 mA g-1 (0.9 C) with clear discharge voltage plateaus (2.25-2.0 V and 1.9-1.5 V). The cell has a capacity of 60 mAh g-1 at 6 C, over 6,000 cycles with Coulombic efficiency ∼ 99%. Raman spectroscopy shows two different intercalation processes involving chloroaluminate anions at the two discharging plateaus, while C-Cl bonding on the surface, or edges of natural graphite, is found using X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Finally, theoretical calculations are employed to investigate the intercalation behaviour of choloraluminate anions in the graphite electrode.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 14283 |
Journal | Nature Communications |
Volume | 8 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2017 Feb 13 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Chemistry
- General Biochemistry,Genetics and Molecular Biology
- General Physics and Astronomy