Suppliers include Targray and Morita Chemical Industries Co., Ltd.
Chemistry
The salt is relatively stable thermally, but loses 50% weight at 200 °C (392 °F). It hydrolyzes near 70 °C (158 °F)[3] according to the following equation forming highly toxic HF gas:
In lithium-ion batteries, LiPF6 reacts with Li2CO3, which may be catalysed by small amounts of HF:[5]
LiPF6 + Li2CO3 → POF3 + CO2 + 3 LiF
Application
The main use of LiPF6 is in commercial secondary batteries, an application that exploits its high solubility in polar aprotic solvents. Specifically, solutions of lithium hexafluorophosphate in carbonate blends of ethylene carbonate, dimethyl carbonate, diethyl carbonate and/or ethyl methyl carbonate, with a small amount of one or many additives such as fluoroethylene carbonate and vinylene carbonate, serve as state-of-the-art electrolytes in lithium-ion batteries.[6][7][8] This application takes advantage of the inertness of the hexafluorophosphate anion toward strong reducing agents, such as lithium metal, as well as of the ability of [PF6-] to passivate the positive aluminium current collector.[9]
^Xu, Kang (October 2004). "Nonaqueous Liquid Electrolytes for Lithium-Based Rechargeable Batteries". Chemical Reviews. 104 (10): 4303–4418. doi:10.1021/cr030203g. PMID15669157. S2CID33074301.
^Nao Hamada; Sato Tsuneo (2004). "Lithium Hexafluorophosphate-Catalyzed Efficient Tetrahydropyranylation of Tertiary Alcohols under Mild Reaction Conditions". Synlett (10): 1802–1804. doi:10.1055/s-2004-829550.
^Bi, Yujing; Wang, Tao; Liu, Meng; Du, Rui; Yang, Wenchao; Liu, Zixuan; Peng, Zhe; Liu, Yang; Wang, Deyu; Sun, Xueliang (2016). "Stability of Li2CO3 in cathode of lithium ion battery and its influence on electrochemical performance". RSC Advances. 6 (23): 19233–19237. Bibcode:2016RSCAd...619233B. doi:10.1039/C6RA00648E. ISSN2046-2069.
^Goodenough, John B.; Kim, Youngsik (9 February 2010). "Challenges for Rechargeable Li Batteries". Chemistry of Materials. 22 (3): 587–603. doi:10.1021/cm901452z.
^Jow, T. Richard; Borodin, Oleg; Ue, Makoto; Xu, Kang (2014). Electrolytes for Lithium and Lithium-Ion Batteries. Springer: New York. ISBN9781493903023.
^Corrosion inhibition of aluminum current collector with molybdate conversion coating in commercial LiPF6-esters electrolytes. 2021. Corrosion Sci. 190/11. S.L. Yang, S.M. Li, Y.B. Meng, M. Yu, J.H. Liu, B. Li. doi: 10.1016/j.corsci.2021.109632.