Electrochemical intercalation of cationic and anionic species from a lithium perchlorate–propylene carbonate system—a rocking-chair type of dual-intercalation system

The reductive and oxidative intercalation of ionic species of lithium perchlorate (LiClO4) in propylene carbonate (PC) medium are carried out to develop a dual-intercalation battery system. Cyclic voltammetry (CV), potentiostatic transients (i-t), galvanostatic charging, thermogravimetry (TG) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) are performed to establish the intercalation behaviour of both lithium and perchlorate ionic species. A polypropylene graphite composite electrode material containing 20 wt.% polypropylene as a binder is found to be a suitable host material for dual intercalation studies. The intercalation/de-intercalation efficiency (IDE) increases with increasing sweep rate and reaches up to 90% for Li+ and 65% for ClO4− ions at a sweep rate of 40 mV s−1. The formation of a passive film decreases the IDE during the first intercalation/de-intercalation cycle. The open-circuit potential for a battery assembly involving these two electrodes is in the range 3.8 to 4.0 V.