Gas Evolution at Graphite Anodes Depending on Electrolyte Water Content and SEI Quality Studied by On-Line Electrochemical Mass Spectrometry

The gas evolution during the formation of graphite electrodes is quantified by On-line Electrochemical Mass Spectrometry (OEMS) for dry electrolyte (< 20 ppm H 2 O) and 4000 ppm H 2 O containing electrolyte to mimic the effect of trace water during the formation process. While the formation in dry electrolyte mainly shows ethylene (C 2 H 4 ) from the reduction of ethylene carbonate (EC) and small amounts of hydrogen (H 2 ), the formation in water-containing electrolyte yields large amounts of H 2 and considerable amounts of CO 2 in addition to the expected C 2 H 4 evolution. We could show that a protective solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer formed by pre-cycling the graphite electrode in 2% vinylene carbonate (VC) containing electrolyte can reduce the H 2 evolution in water-containing electrolyte by a factor of 7.5 compared to a pristine graphite electrode. Consequently, the ability of graphite electrodes to form an SEI prevents excessive gassing from trace water, which, e.g., is observed for non-SEI forming lithium titanate (LTO) electrodes.