The decomposition of state‐of‐the‐art lithium ion battery (LIB) electrolytes leads to a highly complex mixture during battery cell operation. Furthermore, thermal strain by e.g., fast charging can initiate the degradation and generate various compounds. The correlation of electrolyte decomposition products and LIB performance fading over life‐time is mainly unknown. The thermal and electrochemical degradation in electrolytes comprising 1 m LiPF6 dissolved in 13C3‐labeled ethylene carbonate (EC) and unlabeled diethyl carbonate is investigated and the corresponding reaction pathways are postulated. Furthermore, a fragmentation mechanism assumption for oligomeric compounds is depicted. Soluble decomposition products classes are examined and evaluated with liquid chromatography‐high resolution mass spectrometry. This study proposes a formation scheme for oligo phosphates as well as contradictory findings regarding phosphate‐carbonates, disproving monoglycolate methyl/ethyl carbonate as the central reactive species.

Lithium ion battery cells operating at high‐voltage typically suffer from severe capacity fading, known as ‘rollover’ failure. Here, the beneficial impact of Li2CO3 as an electrolyte additive for state‐of‐the‐art carbonate‐based electrolytes, which significantly improves the cycling performance of NCM523 ∥ graphite full‐cells operated at 4.5 V is elucidated. LIB cells using the electrolyte stored at 20 °C (with or without Li2CO3 additive) suffer from severe capacity decay due to parasitic transition metal (TM) dissolution/deposition and subsequent Li metal dendrite growth on graphite. In contrast, NCM523 ∥ graphite cells using the Li2CO3‐containing electrolyte stored at 40 °C display significantly improved capacity retention. The underlying mechanism is successfully elucidated: The rollover failure is inhibited, as Li2CO3 reacts with LiPF6 at 40 °C to in situ form lithium difluorophosphate, and its decomposition products in turn act as ‘scavenging’ agents for TMs (Ni and Co), thus preventing TM deposition and Li metal formation on graphite.

Mn 2+ or Mn 3+ ? Investigating transition metal dissolution of manganese species in lithium ion battery electrolytes by capillary electrophoresisA new CE method with ultraviolet-visible detection was developed in this study to investigate manganese dissolution in lithium ion battery electrolytes. The aqueous running buffer based on diphosphate showed excellent stabilization of labile Mn 3+ , even under electrophoretic conditions. The method was optimized regarding the concentration of diphosphate and modifier to obtain suitable signals for quantification. Additionally, the finally obtained method was applied on carbonate-based electrolytes samples. Dissolution experiments of the cathode material LiNi 0.5 Mn 1.5 O 4 (lithium nickel manganese oxide [LNMO]) in aqueous diphosphate buffer at defined pH were performed to investigate the effect of a transition metal-ion-scavenger on the oxidation state of dissolved manganese. Quantification of both Mn species revealed the formation of mainly Mn 3+ , which can be attributed to a comproportionation reaction of dissolved and complexed Mn 2+ with Mn 4+ at the surface of the LNMO structure. It was also shown that the formation of Mn 3+ increased with lower pH. In contrast, dissolution experiments of LNMO in carbonate-based electrolytes containing LIPF 6 showed only dissolution of Mn 2+ .Abbreviations: LIBs, lithium ion batteries; LMO, lithium manganese oxide; LNMO, lithium nickel manganese oxide; SEI, solid electrolyte interphase; TM, transition metal; XANES, Xray absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy Color online: See the article online to view Figs. 1-5 in color.