Applications of x ray absorption fine structure to the in situ study of the effect of cobalt in nickel hydrous oxide electrodes for fuel cells and rechargeable batteries

Electronic and structural aspects of composite nickel-cobalt hydrous oxides have been examined in alkaline solutions using in situ X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS). The results obtained have indicated that cobalt in this material is present as cobaltic ions regardless of the oxidation state of nickel in the lattice. Furthermore, careful analysis of the Co K-edge Extended X-ray absorption fine structure data reveals that the co-electrodeposition procedure generates a single phase, mixed metal hydrous oxide, in which cobaltic ions occupy nickel sites in the NiO2 sheet-like layers and not two intermixed phases each consisting of a single metal hydrous oxide

In-situ Spectroscopic and Structural Studies of Electrode Materials for Advanced Battery Applications

Techniques have been developed and implemented to gain insight into fundamental factors that affect the performance of electrodes in Li and Li-ion batteries and other energy storage devices. These include experimental strategies for monitoring the Raman scattering spectra of single microparticles of carbon and transition metal oxides as a function of their state of charge. Measurements were performed in electrolytes of direct relevance to Li and Li-Ion batteries both in the static and dynamic modes. In addition, novel strategies were devised for performing conventional experiments in ultrahigh vacuum environments under conditions which eliminate effects associated with presence of impurities, using ultrapure electrolytes, both of the polymeric and ionic liquid type that display no measurable vapor pressure. Also examined was the reactivity of conventional non aqueous solvent toward ultrapure Li films as monitored in ultrahigh vacuum with external reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Also pursued were efforts toward developing applying Raman-scattering for monitoring the flow of charge of a real Li ion battery. Such time-resolved, spatially-resolved measurements are key to validating the results of theoretical simulations involving real electrode structures

In-situ Spectroscopic and Structural Studies of Electrode Materials for Advanced Battery Applications

Techniques have been developed and implemented to gain insight into fundamental factors that affect the performance of electrodes in Li and Li-ion batteries and other energy storage devices. These include experimental strategies for monitoring the Raman scattering spectra of single microparticles of carbon and transition metal oxides as a function of their state of charge. Measurements were performed in electrolytes of direct relevance to Li and Li-Ion batteries both in the static and dynamic modes. In addition, novel strategies were devised for performing conventional experiments in ultrahigh vacuum environments under conditions which eliminate effects associated with presence of impurities, using ultrapure electrolytes, both of the polymeric and ionic liquid type that display no measurable vapor pressure. Also examined was the reactivity of conventional non aqueous solvent toward ultrapure Li films as monitored in ultrahigh vacuum with external reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Also pursued were efforts toward developing applying Raman-scattering for monitoring the flow of charge of a real Li ion battery. Such time-resolved, spatially-resolved measurements are key to validating the results of theoretical simulations involving real electrode structures

Theory of Transition Times: Catalysis at Rotating Disk Electrodes

An exact solution to the problem of convective diffusion to a rotating disk electrode with a prescribed initial profile and current step conditions at the surface is presented. Based on this solution a current density-transition time relationship is established which in the limit reduces to a previously proposed expression that accounts for experimentally observed deviations from the Sand equation. Applications of this theory in connection with the determination of rate parameters for electroactive species undergoing a catalytic reaction at the electrode surface are discussed