Stable cycling of high-voltage lithium metal batteries in ether electrolytes

• Published in: Nature energy Vol. 3; no. 9; pp. 739 - 746
• Main Authors: Jiao, Shuhong, Ren, Xiaodi, Cao, Ruiguo, Engelhard, Mark H., Liu, Yuzi, Hu, Dehong, Mei, Donghai, Zheng, Jianming, Zhao, Wengao, Li, Qiuyan, Liu, Ning, Adams, Brian D., Ma, Cheng, Liu, Jun, Zhang, Ji-Guang, Xu, Wu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.09.2018; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 639/4077; 639/4077/4079; 706/4066; 706/4066/4069; Anodes; Cathodes; Cycles; Economics and Management; Electrolytes; Energy; Energy Policy; Energy Storage; Energy Systems; Ethers; High voltages; Lithium; Lithium batteries; Metals; Renewable and Green Energy; Stability; Voltage
• ISSN: 2058-7546; 2058-7546
• DOI: 10.1038/s41560-018-0199-8

The key to enabling long-term cycling stability of high-voltage lithium (Li) metal batteries is the development of functional electrolytes that are stable against both Li anodes and high-voltage (above 4 V versus Li/Li + ) cathodes. Due to their limited oxidative stability ( <4 V), ethers have so far been excluded from being used in high-voltage batteries, in spite of their superior reductive stability against Li metal compared to conventional carbonate electrolytes. Here, we design a concentrated dual-salt/ether electrolyte that induces the formation of stable interfacial layers on both a high-voltage LiNi 1/3 Mn 1/3 Co 1/3 O 2 cathode and the Li metal anode, thus realizing a capacity retention of >90% over 300 cycles and ~80% over 500 cycles with a charge cut-off voltage of 4.3 V. This study offers a promising approach to enable ether-based electrolytes for high-voltage Li metal battery applications. Ether-based electrolytes offer many advantages compared to other electrolyte systems, but they are not stable in Li metal batteries when operating at high voltages. Here, the authors develop a concentrated ether electrolyte that enables long-term cycling stability of high-voltage Li metal batteries.