Quantifying Battery Additives with the 60PRO

In this ever-evolving world where technology and science keep pushing into new territory, new inventions are being made and state-of-the-art validation methods are being developed. Over the last few decades, lithium-ion batteries have gained more and more traction in their uses, moving from general simple batteries used for powering your calculator or phone, to cars and trucks, and even airplanes (currently only the small ones). However, as simple as batteries may seem, a lot of work must be done behind to scenes to develop these subtle but priceless additions to our lives. 

There are three essential components to any lithium-ion battery; changing any of these could drastically alter the battery’s performance. These components are:

• the electrodes (anode and cathode),
• the separator,
• the electrolyte (salt and solvent system).¹

One of the main components under scrutiny in battery research is the electrolyte. The electrolyte is often a complex mixture of non-aqueous solvents and lithium salt(s). A common way of improving the performance of a battery is through the addition of electrolyte additives, which can considerably enhance either the functionality or help prevent destabilization.² As a result, when it comes to the purity of electrolyte mixtures, it is crucial to ensure that there are no impurities present, as the introduction of such contaminants can interfere with the battery's performance, which likely results in the battery's failure. A fast and efficient way to test for these impurities is to use quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (qNMR) spectroscopy! If you are new or would like to learn more about qNMR spectroscopy, please check out this link here!

Shown below (Figure 1) is a quick comparison between our 60PRO and a high-field 400 MHz NMR spectrometer for the purity analysis of fluoroethylene carbonate using both ¹H and ¹⁹F quantitative NMR (qNMR) spectroscopy.

Figure 1. NMR spectra of fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) and respective internal calibrant using the 60PRO and 400 MHz instruments. A) ¹⁹F NMR (376.5 MHz) spectrum of FEC and 1,4-dibromotetrafluorobenzene (DBTFB). B) ¹⁹F NMR (56.5 MHz) spectrum of FEC and DBTFB. C) ¹H NMR spectrum (400 MHz) of FEC and 1,2,4,5-tetrachloro-3-nitrobenzene (TCNB). D) ¹H NMR (60 MHz) spectrum of FEC and TCNB.

Table 1: Comparison between the purity obtained using the 60PRO and high-field 400 MHz NMR spectrometers. 

As you can see, the results obtained using the 60PRO benchtop NMR spectrometer match closely to those obtained using the high-field NMR spectrometer. With the increasing amount of research being performed in energy storage, having a fast, efficient, and quantitative method at your disposal would be a huge asset. If you would like to know more about battery applications with NMR spectroscopy or are interested in how benchtop NMR could help you, please do not hesitate to contact us.

References

[1] Mauger, A.; Julien, C.M.; Paollela, A.; Armand, M.; Zaghib, K. Mater. Sci. Eng. R Rep. 2018, 134, 1-21.
[2] Younesi, R.; Veith, G.M.; Johansson, P.; Edström, K; Vegge, V. Energy Environ. Sci. 2015, 8, 1905-1922.