Impact of composite structure and morphology on electronic and ionic conductivity of carbon contained LiCoO2 cathode

Cathodes in lithium ion batteries consist of an ionic conductor, an electronic conductor and a binder in order to make a composite that is both electronically and ionically conductive. The carbon coating on the cathode material plays a critical role for the electrochemical properties of lithium ion batteries due to the increased electronic conductivity. We explain the relationship between the electrochemical properties and the characteristics of composites prepared using the ball-milling process in this report. We investigated two types of carbonaceous materials (graphite and carbon black) in LiCoO₂ electrodes. These selected carbon materials have different characteristics and structure upon ball-milling with LiCoO₂. The composite prepared by ball-milling for 5 min leads to better mixing of carbon and LiCoO₂, an intimate contact of carbon on LiCoO₂, a higher lithium ion diffusion (DLi) than non ball-milled and longer ball-milled composites. On the other hand, a longer time of ball-milling (30 and 60 min) decreases the electronic and ionic conductivity due to an increase of disordered structure of carbon and a thick and dense carbon coating layer on LiCoO₂ particles, preventing the diffusion of lithium ions, respectively

Design mining microbial fuel cell cascades

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) perform wastewater treatment and electricity production through the conversion of organic matter using microorganisms. For practical applications, it has been suggested that greater efficiency can be achieved by arranging multiple MFC units into physical stacks in a cascade with feedstock flowing sequentially between units. In this article, we investigate the use of cooperative coevolution to physically explore and optimise (potentially) heterogeneous MFC designs in a cascade, i.e., without simulation. Conductive structures are 3D printed and inserted into the anodic chamber of each MFC unit, augmenting a carbon fibre veil anode and affecting the hydrodynamics, including the feedstock volume and hydraulic retention time, as well as providing unique habitats for microbial colonisation. We show that it is possible to use design mining to identify new conductive inserts that increase both the cascade power output and power density

Impact of composite structure and morphology on electronic and ionic conductivity of carbon contained LiCoO2 cathode

Cathodes in lithium ion batteries consist of an ionic conductor, an electronic conductor and a binder in order to make a composite that is both electronically and ionically conductive. The carbon coating on the cathode material plays a critical role for the electrochemical properties of lithium ion batteries due to the increased electronic conductivity. We explain the relationship between the electrochemical properties and the characteristics of composites prepared using the ball-milling process in this report. We investigated two types of carbonaceous materials (graphite and carbon black) in LiCoO2 electrodes. These selected carbon materials have different characteristics and structure upon ball-milling with LiCoO2. The composite prepared by ball-milling for 5 min leads to better mixing of carbon and LiCoO2, an intimate contact of carbon on LiCoO2, a higher lithium ion diffusion (DLi) than non ball-milled and longer ball-milled composites. On the other hand, a longer time of ball-milling (30 and 60 min) decreases the electronic and ionic conductivity due to an increase of disordered structure of carbon and a thick and dense carbon coating layer on LiCoO2 particles, preventing the diffusion of lithium ions, respectively