Structure and compatibility of a magnesium electrolyte with a sulphur cathode.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 21829189.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/ncomms1435 and PMC identifier 3266610.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC-SA.
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Abstract
Magnesium metal is an ideal rechargeable battery anode material because of its high volumetric energy density, high negative reduction potential and natural abundance. Coupling Mg with high capacity, low-cost cathode materials such as electrophilic sulphur is only possible with a non-nucleophilic electrolyte. Here we show how the crystallization of the electrochemically active species formed from the reaction between hexamethyldisilazide magnesium chloride and aluminum trichloride enables the synthesis of a non-nucleophilic electrolyte. Furthermore, crystallization was essential in the identification of the electroactive species, [Mg(2)(μ-Cl)(3)·6THF](+), and vital to improvements in the voltage stability and coulombic efficiency of the electrolyte. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis of the sulphur electrode confirmed that the electrochemical conversion between sulphur and magnesium sulfide can be successfully performed using this electrolyte.