High-Salt Liquefied Gas Electrolytes for Low Vapor Pressure Cells
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional liquefied gas electrolytes face challenges due to high vapor pressures, making handling and manufacturing of electrochemical devices difficult, as they require thicker housing walls, increasing mass, volume, and cost.
Innovation Solution
Development of novel electrolytes with a high concentration of salt in liquefied gas solvents, reducing vapor pressure below atmospheric pressure, allowing for a stable electrode-electrolyte interface and simplifying manufacturability by enabling thinner cell housing and lower costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If liquefied gas electrolytes are used to improve device performance, then power and energy performance are improved, but vapor pressure increases above atmospheric pressure making handling difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the concentration parameter of salt in the electrolyte from conventional low concentrations (1.0 M) to high concentrations (5.0 M or higher). This parameter change fundamentally alters the vapor pressure characteristics of the liquefied gas electrolyte, reducing it from above atmospheric pressure to below atmospheric pressure, thereby resolving the handling difficulty while preserving the performance benefits
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite electrolyte system by combining liquefied gas solvent with high concentration salt (such as LiTFSI, LiFSO3, or LiBF4). This composite formulation produces a new material system with unique properties: the salt components suppress vapor pressure while the liquefied gas maintains low viscosity and high ionic conductivity, achieving both performance and handling requirements
2Ease of operation
If high concentration salt is added to reduce vapor pressure, then vapor pressure is reduced below atmospheric pressure, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent systematically optimizes the salt concentration parameter to specific ranges (5.0 M, 7.5 M, or 10.0 M) where the vapor pressure reduction effect is maximized. By identifying these optimal parameter points, the patent simplifies the formulation process despite the high salt concentration, transforming a complex optimization problem into a set of defined target concentrations that achieve the desired vapor pressure reduction
3Reliability
If thicker housing walls are used to contain high vapor pressure, then containment reliability is improved, but mass and volume increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the harmful high vapor pressure characteristic of liquefied gas electrolytes into a beneficial low vapor pressure state by using high concentration salt formulations. This transformation eliminates the need for over-engineered containment structures, allowing the use of thinner, lighter housing walls while maintaining adequate containment reliability, thus reducing device mass
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The reduced vapor pressure enables easier handling and manufacturing of electrochemical devices, enhancing cell cycle life, power capability, and safety while reducing material and production costs.
Implementation Method 1
the combination of solid salt and liquefied gas solvent results in an electrolyte with a reduced vapor pressure from the base solvent alone
Implementation Method 2
Salt and solvent molecules exist in so called 'solvation shells' where positive and negative ions are typically surrounded by solvent, additive and other positive and negative ions
Implementation Method 3
The large amount of salt aids in creating a stable electrode-electrolyte interface (SEI), which may increase cell cycle life performance or lower impedance electrode-electrolyte interphases
Implementation Method 4
Improved SEI formation is thought to result from more contact-ion pairs (CTPs) and aggregates in the solvation shell, where the salt cation and anion are still in contact and not separated by solvent
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are novel electrolytes based on liquefied gas and high concentration of salt in liquefied gas electrolytes. Unlike common electrolytes, liquefied gas electrolytes utilize solvents which are gaseous under standard conditions. The current disclosure describes electrolytes which consist of a solvent which is comprised of one or more solvents, wherein one or more of those solvents are a liquefied gas solvent, and a salt or combination of salts at high enough concentration such that the combination of solid salt and liquefied gas solvent results in a reduced vapor pressure electrolyte or even a liquid electrolyte mixture with vapor pressure below that of atmospheric pressure at a temperature of 293.15K.