Electrolyte Design for Lithium Metal Anode‐Based Batteries Toward Extreme Temperature Application

Abstract

Lithium anode-based batteries (LBs) are highly demanded in society owing to the high theoretical capacity and low reduction potential of metallic lithium. They are expected to see increasing deployment in performance critical areas including electric vehicles, grid storage, space, and sea vehicle operations. Unfortunately, competitive performance cannot be achieved when LBs operating under extreme temperature conditions where the lithium-ion chemistry fail to perform optimally. In this review, a brief overview of the challenges in developing LBs for low temperature (<0°C) and high temperature (>60°C) operation are provided followed by electrolyte design strategies involving Li salt modification, solvation structure optimization, additive introduction, and solid-state electrolyte utilization for LBs are introduced. Specifically, the prospects of using lithium metal batteries (LMBs), lithium sulfur (Li-S) batteries, and lithium oxygen (Li-O 2 ) batteries for performance under low and high temperature applications are evaluated. These three chemistries are presented as prototypical examples of how the conventional low temperature charge transfer resistances and high temperature side reactions can be overcome. This review also points out the research direction of extreme temperature electrolyte design toward practical applications.

Graphene-Based Cathode Materials for Lithium-Ion Capacitors: A Review

“…With the booming of lithium metal batteries, Li metal anodes have also been applied as the battery-type electrode to develop high-energy LICs [ 131 , 135 ]. In this circumstance, elaborate surface coating or electrolyte regulation is needed to suppress lithium dendrite growth to avoid safety accidents [ 136 , 137 ]. The volumetric performance of graphene-based materials should receive more attention for commercial applications.…”

Ions Transport in Electrochemical Energy Storage Devices at Low Temperatures

“…If electrolytes freeze or crystallize unfortunately, it would seriously hinder the ions' transport in the electrolyte, leading to severe capacity decay of EES devices. [36] To address the problem, much effort has been devoted to obtaining electrolytes with low freezing points and high ionic conductivity. [11,37] In this section, after a discussion of the obstacles of limiting ions diffusion in the electrolyte, we will systematically discuss the strategies of minimizing ions diffusion resistance in the electrolytes with respect to aqueous electrolytes, organic electrolytes, ionic liquid electrolytes, and gel electrolytes.…”

“…Physical properties of carbonate solvent, ether, and other solvents can be referred to in other literature reviews. [11,36] Moreover, the addition of co-solvents may affect the cycle life of EES devices. Mayer et al have studied a variety of EC-based electrolytes for LIBs.…”

Electrolyte Engineering for High-Voltage Lithium Metal Batteries

“…Owing to the catalytic nature of high-voltage cathodes and the infamous reactivity of Li anode, the electrolyte directly contacting with the two electrodes is particularly instrumental in maintaining the stability of the entire battery system [21][22][23]. Moreover, electrochemical reactions at the electrode/electrolyte interphases are triggered during the charging/discharging with the generation of Li anode-side solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) and the cathode electrolyte interphase (CEI) counterpart as a result of the initial reduction and oxidation of electrolyte, respectively [24,25]. The interphases generated in the electrolyte are expected to be robust enough to obstruct the continued side reactions between the electrolyte and the electrodes.…”