High-rate lithium ion batteries with long cycling lives can provide electricity grid stabilization services in the presence of large fractions of intermittent generators, such as photovoltaics. Engineering for high rate and long cycle life requires an appropriate selection of materials for both electrode and electrolyte and an understanding of how these materials degrade with use. High-rate lithium ion batteries can also facilitate faster charging of electric vehicles and provide higher energy density alternatives to supercapacitors in mass transport applications.

High-rate lithium ion batteries can play a critical role in decarbonizing our energy systems both through their underpinning of the transition to use renewable energy resources, such as photovoltaics, and electrification of transport. Their ability to be rapidly and frequently charged and discharged can enable this energy storage technology to play a key role in stabilizing future low-carbon electricity networks which integrate large fractions of intermittent renewable energy generators. This decarbonizing transition will require lithium ion technology to provide increased power and longer cycle lives at reduced cost. Rate performance and cycle life are ultimately limited by the materials used and the kinetics associated with the charge transfer reactions and ionic and electronic conduction. We review material strategies for electrode materials and electrolytes that can facilitate high rates and long cycle lives and discuss the important issues of cost, resource availability and recycling.

Schistosomiasis in China has been substantially reduced due to an effective control programme employing various measures including bovine and human chemotherapy, and the removal of bovines from endemic areas. To fulfil elimination targets, it will be necessary to identify other possible reservoir hosts for Schistosoma japonicum and include them in future control efforts. This study determined the infection prevalence of S. japonicum in rodents (0–9·21%), dogs (0–18·37%) and goats (6·9–46·4%) from the Dongting Lake area of Hunan province, using a combination of traditional coproparasitological techniques (miracidial hatching technique and Kato-Katz thick smear technique) and molecular methods [quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) and droplet digital PCR (ddPCR)]. We found a much higher prevalence in goats than previously recorded in this setting. Cattle and water buffalo were also examined using the same procedures and all were found to be infected, emphasising the occurrence of active transmission. qPCR and ddPCR were much more sensitive than the coproparasitological procedures with both KK and MHT considerably underestimating the true prevalence in all animals surveyed. The high level of S. japonicum prevalence in goats indicates that they are likely important reservoirs in schistosomiasis transmission, necessitating their inclusion as targets of control, if the goal of elimination is to be achieved in China.

The complexity of layered-spinel yLi2MnO3·(1 – y)Li1+xMn2–xO4 (Li:Mn = 1.2:1; 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.33; y ≥ 0.45) composites synthesized at different temperatures has been investigated by a combination of x-ray diffraction (XRD), x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). While the layered component does not change substantially between samples, an evolution of the spinel component from a high to a low lithium excess phase has been traced with temperature by comparing with data for pure Li1+xMn2–xO4. The changes that occur to the structure of the spinel component and to the average oxidation state of the manganese ions within the composite structure as lithium is electrochemically removed in a battery have been monitored using these techniques, in some cases in situ. Our 6Li NMR results constitute the first direct observation of lithium removal from Li2MnO3 and the formation of LiMnO2 upon lithium reinsertion.

The layered oxysulfides Sr2MO2Cu2S2 (M = Mn, Co, Ni) consist of alternating perovskite-type Sr2MO2 layers and copper sulfide layers. We studied the electrochemical insertion of Li into these three samples. By this we were able to study the influence of the nature of the transition metal on the Li insertion process which appears to be at least partially reversible. While the Mn compound clearly shows a Cu-Li exchange reaction, the electrochemical process for the two other compounds is more complex. The lithiated materials were studied by 7Li MAS NMR.

The magnetic properties of layered LiNi0.5Mn0.5O2 and NaNi0.5Mn0.5O2 cathode materials are studied using AC susceptibility and DC magnetization techniques in order to elucidate magnetic interactions within transition metal (TM) layers and between them in samples with various TM distributions. In NaNi0.5Mn0.5O2 antiferromagnetic (AF) ordering transition is found at 60 K and a spin-flop transition at high magnetic field. In LiNi0.5Mn0.5O2 obtained by ion exchange from NaNi0.5Mn0.5O2 ferrimagnetic ordering is found at around 100 K. The saturation magnetization and the hysteresis loop size of ion-exchanged compounds vary from sample to sample, which implies that the Ni2+ ions migrate upon ion exchange process. Magnetic properties of high-temperature and ion-exchanged LiNi0.5Mn0.5O2 are compared; magnetic ordering models for all compounds are proposed based on experimental results and Goodenough-Kanamori rules.

Europium-doped yttrium oxide (Y2O3:Eu3+) luminescent coatings were produced in a single step directly from a solution precursor using a radio frequency induction plasma spray technique. Crystalline and luminescent coatings were grown on Si(100) and steel substrates by this process. X-ray diffraction analyses on these coatings confirmed that polycrystalline cubic Y2O3 phase formed in situ with no impurity phases. The observed photoluminescence from these coatings is in all probability due to the highly crystalline nature of the coating combined with submicron spherical morphology of the grains.

Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has been employed to characterize a variety of phenomena that are central to the functioning of lithium and lithium-ion batteries. These include Li insertion and de-insertion mechanisms in carbonaceous and other anode materials and in transition-metal oxide cathodes, and ion-transport mechanisms in polymer and gel electrolytes. Investigations carried out over the last several years by the authors and other groups are reviewed in this article. Results for lithium manganese oxide spinel cathodes, carbon-based and SnO anodes, and polymer and gel electrolytes are discussed.

Cryptomelane-type manganic acids (CMAs) synthesized by a soft-chemical redox process of KMnO4 with MnSO4 in H2SO4 and α-MnO2s by a decomposition-oxidation process of (CH3)3COK and MnCO3 at 530°C were studied by using the vibrational spectroscopy and 7Li- and 2H-MAS NMR. The infrared absorption bands of the α-MnO2s at 706cm-1 were not changed irrespective of the sort of alkali cations and their uptake amount, while large shifts of this band were observed on the CMA exchanged by alkali cations. Hence, cation-exchange sites of these solids will occupy crystallographically different positions. 7Li-MAS NMR spectra of these manganic acids showed different two chemical shifts depending on their synthetic routes. These findings suggest that different ion-exchange sites are formed at a local level in the 2×2 type tunnel, strongly depending on their synthetic conditions. These are crucial for the control of the cation affinity. These details at a molecular level cannot be obtained by using the conventional XRD analyses.

YAG powders and coatings were developed for the first time by a novel precursor plasma spraying technique using the radio frequency (RF) induction plasma technique. The XRD of the as -sprayed coating confirms the presence of YAG, H-YAP or O-YAP or a mixture of the above depending on the spray conditions. 27Al MAS NMR of the YAG coating corroborates the x-ray results. TEM studies on the coatings confirm that the coating consists of nano-structured particles. The successful spraying of these complex oxide coatings proves that chemistry of phase formation can be controlled in the plasma, thus opening up new avenues in material synthesis.

The one-dimensional 1×1 and 1×2 tunnel structures of manganese dioxides, pyrolusit(β-MnO2) and ramsdellite (R-MnO2), respectively, were chemically intercalated with LiI. Two 7Li resonances were observed in lithiated pyrolusite. One isotropic resonance arising at 110 ppm shows a short spin-lattice relaxation time (T1 ∼ 3 ms) and was assigned to Li+ ions in the 1×1 tunnel structure. The other isotropic resonance arising at 4 ppm shows a long spin-lattice relaxation time (T1 ∼ 100 ms) and was assigned to Li+ ions in diamagnetic local environments in the form of impurities such as Li2O or on the surface of the MnO2 particles. Three 7Li resonances were observed in lithiated ramsdellite at very different frequencies (600, 110 and 0 ppm). The resonance at 600 ppm, which is observed at low lithium intercalation levels, is assigned toLi+ ions coordinated to both Mn(III) and Mn(IV) ions in the 1×2 tunnels, while the resonanceat 110 ppm is due to Li+ ions coordinated to Mn(III) ions and appears at higher Li levels. The resonance at 0 ppm is associated with a long spin-lattice relaxation time (T1 ∼ 100 ms) and is also assignedto Li+ ions in diamagnetic impurities.

A combined approach, using solid state NMR and Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations, has been employed in this work to investigate fluoride-ion motion in the PbSnF4 family of anionic conductors, materials that contain double layers of Sn2+ and M2+ cations. 19F MAS NMR spectra of PbSnF4 and BaSnF4 show that the fluoride ions are mobile on the NMR timescale (10−4 s), even at room temperature. In the case of BaSnF4, two different groups of fluoride ions were observed, one group corresponding to fluorine atoms between the layers of Ba2+ cations, and the other set, corresponding to mobile fluoride ions undergoing exchange between sites in the Ba-Sn and Sn-Sn layers. The 119Sn NMR suggests a highly distorted Sn environment in these compounds, consistent with the presence of stereoactive Sn lone pairs. MD simulations, using the Polarizable Ion Model, have been carried out to probe the conduction mechanism. These simulations are able to reproduce elements of the structure such as the reduction in the occupancy of the fluorine ions between the Sn-Sn layers. Anisotropic conductivity, involving primarily motion in the M-Sn layers, is predicted, consistent with the NMR results. In the case of BaSnF4, no motion involving the fluoride ions in the Ba-Ba layers is observed on the simulation timescale (10−12 s) and a cyclic mechanism of fluoride-ion motion involving two types of fluoride ions in the Ba-Sn layers is proposed.

6Li MAS NMR spectra of lithium manganese oxides with differing manganese oxidation states (LiMn2O4, Li4Mn5O12, Li2Mn4O9, and Li2Mn2O4) are presented. Improved understanding of the lithium NMR spectra of these model compounds is used to interpret the local structure of the LixMn2O4 cathode materials following electrochemical Li+ deintercalation to various charging levels. In situ x-ray diffraction patterns of the same material during charging are also reported for comparison. Evidence for two-phase behavior for x < 0.4 (LixMn2O4) is seen by both NMR and diffraction.

23Na and 23Na/19F double resonance MAS NMR methods have been used to study the binding of hydrofluorocarbon-134 (CF2HCF2H) in zeolites NaY and CsY. The interaction of HFC- 134 with the sodium cations is so strong that the sodium cations in the sodalite cages (site I') migrate into the supercages to bind to the hydrofluorocarbon molecules.

Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)/silicate interpenetrating networks (IPNs) have been synthesized in formic acid solutions. The fast gelation times observed in these solutions reduced the phase separation of the polymer, and the 50% by weight PMMA/silicate hybrid showed virtually no evidence of a glass transition (Tg) from thermomechanical data. 2H NMR showed that the PMMA is extremely mobile in the wet gels, and liquid-like 2H NMR spectra are observed even after prolonged aging of the samples. A 2H static NMR lineshape, indicative of the rigid polymer, does not occur until polymer to solvent ratios of approximately 0.2 (weight basis) are attained. Motional narrowing of the 2H resonances is not observed in the vacuum-dried IPNs below 180 °C. In contrast, pure PMMA shows motional narrowing between 150 and 180 °C. There was little evidence of isotropic motion of the polymer chains, for low polymer concentrations, up to the highest temperature studied (200 °C). The percentage of polymer undergoing isotropic motion increased with polymer content, and as a function of the aging time before solvent stripping.