Lithium–Air Battery

The lithium–air battery (Li–air) is a metal–air electrochemical cell or battery chemistry the 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 masks, 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 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 EV for ~500 km (310 miles) on one charge using 60 kg of batteries.

 However, the practical power and life-cycle of Li–air batteries need significant improvements before they can find a market niche. Significant electrolyte advances are needed to develop a commercial implementation. Four approaches are active: aprotic, aqueous, solid state and mixed aqueous–aprotic. Metal–air batteries, specifically zinc–air, have received attention due to potentially high energy densities. The theoretical specific energy densities for metal–air batteries are higher than for ion-based methods. Lithium–air batteries can theoretically achieve 3840 mA·h/g.

A major market driver for batteries is the automotive sector. The energy density of gasoline is approximately 13 Kw h/kg, which corresponds to 1.7 kW·h/kg of energy provided to the wheels after losses. Theoretically, lithium–air can achieve 12 kW·h/kg (43.2 MJ/kg) excluding the oxygen mass. Accounting for the weight of the full battery pack (casing, air channels, lithium substrate), while lithium alone is very light, the energy density is considerably lower. A Li–air battery potentially had 5–15 times the specific energy of a Li-ion battery.