Abstract
The stability of the lithium bis(oxalate) borate (LiBOB) salt against lithium peroxide (Li2O2) formation in an aprotic LiO2 (Li-air) battery is investigated. From theoretical and experimental findings, we find that the chemical decomposition of LiBOB in electrolytes leads to the formation lithium oxalate during the discharge of a Li-O-2 cell. According to density functional theory (DFT) calculations, the formation of lithium oxalate as the reaction product is exothermic and therefore is thermodynamically feasible. This reaction seems to be independent of solvents used in the Li-O-2 cell, and therefore LiBOB is probably not suitable to be used as the salt in Li-O-2 cell electrolytes.