Novel Na+ Ion diffusion mechanism in mixed organic-inorganic ionic liquid electrolyte leading to high Na+ transference number and stable, high rate electrochemical cycling of sodium cells

Ambient temperature sodium batteries hold the promise of a new generation of high energy density, low-cost energy storage technologies. Particularly challenging in sodium electrochemistry is achieving high stability at high charge/discharge rates. We report here mixtures of inorganic/organic cation fluorosulfonamide (FSI) ionic liquids that exhibit unexpectedly high Na+ transference numbers due to a structural diffusion mechanism not previously observed in this type of electrolyte. The electrolyte can therefore support high current density cycling of sodium. We investigate the effect of NaFSI salt concentration in methylpropylpyrrolidinium (C3mpyr) FSI ionic liquid (IL) on the reversible plating and dissolution of sodium metal, both on a copper electrode and in a symmetric Na/Na metal cell. NaFSI is highly soluble in the IL allowing the preparation of mixtures that contain very high Na contents, greater than 3.2 mol/kg (50 mol %) at room temperature. Despite the fact that overall ion diffusivity decreases substantially with increasing alkali salt concentration, we have found that these high Na+ content electrolytes can support higher current densities (1 mA/cm2) and greater stability upon continued cycling. EIS measurements indicate that the interfacial impedance is decreased in the high concentration systems, which provides for a particularly low-resistance solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI), resulting in faster charge transfer at the interface. Na+ transference numbers determined by the Bruce-Vincent method increased substantially with increasing NaFSI content, approaching >0.3 at the saturation concentration limit which may explain the improved performance. NMR spectroscopy, PFG diffusion measurements, and molecular dynamics simulations reveal a changeover to a facile structural diffusion mechanism for sodium ion transport at high concentrations in these electrolytes.

Estimated Number and Location of Future Moose-Vehicle Collisions (MVC) in Maine

Moose (Alces alces) are a keystone herbivore in Maine. Because of the large number of rural roads in Maine, there is a high rate of moose-vehicle collisions (MVCs), which is increasing. On-road encounters with animals resulted in 231 fatalities in the United States in 1999. Because of the fatality of MVCs, it is important to know where they are most likely to occur. I used GIS analysis to estimate where future MVCs would occur, factoring in the variables of land cover suitability for moose, distance from water bodies, locations of past MVCs, and speed limits on the roads. I ran four different analyses, each one weighting the variables equally. I also ran a regression to determine if increasing road speed was associated with the increase in the number of MVCs per length of road. There was not a strong positive relationship between the number of MVCs per length of road and the speed limit, but it was interesting to note that there were more MVCs per length of road on 35mph and 40mph roads than on 45, 50, 55 or 65mph roads. Future research on MVCs would benefit from the inclusion of include moose population density and road traffic data.

December 2008, Volume 4, Number 4

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October 2008, Volume 4, Number 3

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July 2008, Volume 4, Number 2

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May 2008 Volume 4, Number 1

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December 2007 Volume 3, Number 4

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October 2007 Volume 3, Number 3

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August 2007 Volume 3, Number 2

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April 2007 Volume 3, Number 1

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December 2006 Volume 2, Number 4

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August 2006 Volume 2, Number 3

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May 2006 Volume 2, Number 2

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January 2006 Volume 2, Number 1

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