MESOSCALE METAL OXIDE BASED COMPOSITE ELECTRODES: IMPACT OF CRYSTALLITE SIZE AND AGGREGATION ON BATTERY ELECTROCHEMISTRY

摘要

As the demand for large scale batteries has grown, considerations such as earth abundance, cost, and toxicity have assumed a greater importance. Metal oxides are worthy of evaluation as active materials for electrochemical energy storage, particularly those utilizing earth abundant, low cost, environmentally benign metal centers such as iron. For example, magnetite (Fe3O4), has shown promise due to its high theoretical capacity (926 mAh/g). However, to facilitate broader implementation of metal oxides in batteries, full understanding of the fundamental electrochemical reduction-oxidation mechanisms of the electroactive materials is required, coupled with characterization at the mesoscale to understand the underlying contributors to localized resistance which must be addressed in order to achieve significant improvements to current capability and reversibility.