Direct Correlation of the Salt-Reduced Diffusivities of Organic Solvents with the Solvent's Mole Fraction

Naresh C. Osti*, Bishnu Prasad Thapaliya, Ray A. Matsumoto, Arjun Bansal, Xiaobo Lin, Peter T. Cummings, Madhusudan Tyagi, Sheng Dai, Eugene Mamontov*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI) in organic solvents (especially propylene carbonate) has demonstrated extraordinary pseudocapacitive performance as an electrolyte in the supercapacitor configuration (Nat. Energy 2019, 4, 241-248). However, the influence of the solvated ions on the diffusivity of the solvent molecules is yet to be understood. We examine the impact of LiTFSI on the diffusivity in five organic solvents: acetonitrile (ACN), tetrahydrofuran (THF), methanol (MeOH), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), and propylene carbonate (PC) using a combination of neutron scattering, conductivity measurements, and molecular dynamics simulations. The extent of the diffusivity reduction in the concentration regime of ≤1 M directly correlates with the solvent mole fraction at which the solvation shells around Li+ions are of similar size in all the solvents, resulting in a universal ∼50% reduction in the solvent diffusivity. These results provide guidance for formulation of the new electrolytes to enhance the performance of energy storage devices.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2845-2850
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Physical Chemistry Letters
Volume13
Issue number12
Early online date24 Mar 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 31 Mar 2022

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Materials Science
  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Direct Correlation of the Salt-Reduced Diffusivities of Organic Solvents with the Solvent's Mole Fraction'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this