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Solid-state lithium metal batteries (SSLMBs) that incorporate composite polymer electrolytes have gained significant attention as potential replacements for liquid electrolytes (LEs) in lithium metal batteries (LMBs) due to their exceptional safety, outstanding energy storage performance, and remarkable stability even under high temperature conditions. In this study, a novel LiTa2PO8 (LTPO) Li+-ion conducting material was synthesized via the solid-state method using a 3D mixer. The LTPO powder was uniformly dispersed within polymer matrices, thereby enabling the synthesis of a hybrid solid electrolyte membrane (denoted as LTPO-HSE) through a straightforward solution-casting technique. The room-temperature total ionic conductivity (σt) of the LTPO pellet, 1LTPO-HSE membrane (1 : 1 polymer to LTPO ratio) and after the incorporation of 10 μL liquid electrolyte (LE) namely, 1 M lithium difluoro(oxalato)borate (LiDFOB) and 1 wt% lithium difluorophosphate (LiDFP) in ethylene carbonate/dimethyl carbonate (EC/DMC) (1 : 1 vol%) denoted as (LE-1LTPO-HSE) were approximately 0.17, 0.59 and 1.17 mS cm−1, respectively. The addition of 10 μL LiDFOB and LiDFP salt-containing LE to the cathode sides improved the interfacial wettability and stability of the cathode–electrolyte interface (CEI) and solid electrolyte interface (SEI) layer formation. A 2032-type coin battery with an LiFePO4 (LFP) cathode was cycled at 1C/1C between 2.5 and 4.0 V at room temperature and an average coulombic efficiency of 99.98% with a capacity retention of 92.3% after 800 cycles was achieved. The maximum specific capacity at the 19th and 800th cycles was 138 and 127.4 mA h g−1, respectively. Furthermore, at high operating temperature (45 °C), the LFP/LE-1LTPO-HSE/Li cell exhibited an initial specific capacity of 151.1 mA h g−1 at a rate of 2C/2C and retained 96.7% of its capacity after 300 cycles. The LFP/LE-1LTPO-HSE/Li cell also runs for more than 1740 cycles at a high discharge rate (0.5C/2C) at room temperature and delivered a retention of more than 87%. These results illustrate the viability of utilizing a high lithium-ion conductor known as LTPO as a filler material. Moreover, the novel hybrid electrolyte composed of a polymer and ceramic exhibits a stable long-term cycling performance. This finding may serve as a foundation for the development of more advanced solid-state electrolytes in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mesophase soft carbon (MSC) and mesophase graphite (SMG), for use in comparative studies of high C-rate Lithium Ion Battery (LIB) anodes, were made by heating mesocarbon microbeads (MCMB) at 1300 °C and 3000 °C; respectively. The crystalline structures and morphologies of the MSC, SMG, and commercial hard carbon (HC) were investigated by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. Additionally, their electrochemical properties, when used as anode materials in LIBs, were also investigated. The results show that MSC has a superior charging rate capability compared to SMG and HC. This is attributed to MSC having a more extensive interlayer spacing than SMG, and a greater number of favorably-oriented pathways when compared to HC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spinel LiMn2 − xCoxO4 (0.00 ≦ x ≦ 0.20) powders with small and uniform particle size were successfully synthesized by microwave-induced combustion using lithium nitrate, manganese nitrate, cobalt nitrate, and urea as the starting materials. The LiMn2 − xCoxO4 powders synthesized by microwave-induced combustion were investigated by X-ray diffractometer (XRD), thermogravimeter analyzer (TG), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The LiMn2 − xCoxO4 samples were used as cathode materials in lithium-ion batteries, whose discharge capacity and electrochemical characteristics such as the cycling performance were also investigated. The results revealed that the LiMn2 − xCoxO4 cell synthesized by microwave-induced combustion provided a high initial capacity and excellent reversibility compared to the material prepared by solid-state reaction method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]