Imidazolium Based Ionic Liquids for Electrolytes in High Energy Density Batteries

• Published in: Meeting abstracts (Electrochemical Society) Vol. MA2025-01; no. 3; p. 330
• Main Author: Aravindakshan, Nikhil
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: The Electrochemical Society, Inc 11.07.2025
• ISSN: 2151-2043; 2151-2035
• DOI: 10.1149/MA2025-013330mtgabs

Ionic Liquids (ILs) have the right properties of an electrolyte to be used in high energy density batteries like the Li-ion battery and they are safer than the organic solvents that are currently being used. Tuning into the right IL needs work, as better understanding of their transport phenomenon, liquid structure, dielectric properties, and solvation nature on metal ions, is necessary. Past work using molecular dynamics (both quantum mechanical and molecular mechanical) have been proven effective in gaining some understanding of the transport nature of Protic Ionic Liquids using a kite model. The same methodology can be expanded to study the Aprotic Ionic Liquids, which are more qualified candidates for battery applications. The current study is exploring the transport properties of Aprotic Ionic Liquids and their tunability factors – physical and chemical, so that some potential Ionic Liquids based electrolytes can be proposed in high energy density batteries. Imidazolium based ILs are of particular interest because of their high specific conductivity, low viscosity, low melting point (lower than room temperature), and wide electrochemical windows. In this study, several Imidazolium based ILs are simulated at varying conditions using molecular mechanics (MM), and their tunability towards use as electrolytes in Li-ion batteries are explored.