Please join us for a seminar on the “Spectroscopic Investigations of Lithium-Air Batteries” by Dr. Ken-ichi Inoue from Tohoku University.

Lithium-air batteries are attracting attention as next-generation secondary batteries due to their high theoretical energy density. However, various challenges remain for practical application, such as poor cyclability. This poor performance is considered to be related to highly reactive Li metal electrode, electrolyte decomposition, singlet oxygen generation, overpotential for oxygen evolution reaction (OER), and other factors. To address these issues, we have employed various spectroscopic techniques, including infrared (IR) spectroscopy, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy, and UV-vis absorption spectroscopy. In this talk, I will discuss: 1) quantitative evaluation of Li metal reactivity, 2) in situ measurements of the electrolyte decomposition reactions, 3) quantitative evaluation of singlet oxygen, and 4) investigation of the origin of the overpotential for OER.