Lithium–air battery

Common card · No. 365856

The lithium–air battery (Li–air) is a metal–air electrochemical cell or battery chemistry that uses oxidation of lithium at the anode and reduction of oxygen at the cathode to induce a current flow. Pairing lithium and ambient oxygen can theoretically lead to electrochemical cells with the highest possible specific energy. Indeed, the theoretical specific energy of a non-aqueous Li–air battery, in the charged state with Li2O2 product and excluding the oxygen mass, is ~40.1 MJ/kg. This is comparable to the theoretical specific energy of gasoline, ~46.8 MJ/kg. In practice, Li–air batteries with a specific energy of ~6.12 MJ/kg lithium at the cell level have been demonstrated. This is about 5 times greater than that of a commercial lithium-ion battery, and is sufficient to run a 2,000 kg electric vehicle for ~500 km (310 miles) on a single charge using 60 kg of lithium (i.e. 20.4 kWh/100 km). However, the practical power and cycle life of Li–air batteries need significant improvements before...

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