Ion and solvent diffusion and ion conduction of PC-DEC and PC-DME binary solvent electrolytes of LiN(SO2CF3)2

Two binary mixed solvent systems typically used for lithium batteries were studied by measuring the self-diffusion coefficients of the solvent, lithium ion and anion, independently by using the multi-nuclear pulsed field-gradient spin-echo (PGSE) H-1, Li-7 and F-19 NMR method. One system was propylene carbonate (PC) and diethyl carbonate (DEC) system and the other binary system was PC and 1,2-dimethoxyethane (DME), and the lithium salt used was LiN(SO2CF3)2 (LiTFSI). The relative ratio of the PC was changed from zero (pure DME and DEC) to 100% (pure PC) in the DME-PC and the DEC-PC systems, respectively. The self-diffusion coefficients of the solvents were measured with and without the lithium salt, and the two solvents had almost the same diffusion coefficient in the DEC-PC system, while DME diffused faster than PC in the DME-PC system. In the electrolytes the solvents diffused the fastest, followed by the anion with the lithium ion diffusing the slowest. The degree of ion dissociation was estimated for each electrolyte by comparing the ionic conductivities estimated from the ion diffusion and those measured directly by the electrochemical method. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.