Effect of a pyrrolidinium zwitterion on charge/discharge cycle properties of Li/LiCoO2 and graphite/Li cells containing an ionic liquid electrolyte

Abstract

Abstract Ionic liquids (ILs) containing zwitterions have been studied as electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). The effects of addition of a pyrrolidinium zwitterion in an IL electrolyte on the thermal and electrochemical stability and charge/discharge properties of Li/LiCoO 2 and graphite/Li cells were investigated. The thermal decomposition temperature of the IL electrolyte composed of N -methyl- N -propylpyrrolidinium bis(fluorosulfonyl)amide ([P13][FSA])/lithium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amide (LiTFSA) with 3-(1-butylpyrrolidinium)propane-1-sulfonate (Bpyps) as the zwitterionic additive, the thermal decomposition temperature was about 300 °C. The electrochemical window of [P13][FSA]/LiTFSA/Bpyps was 0–+5.4 V vs. Li/Li + , which was almost identical to that of [P13][FSA]/LiTFSA. Li|electrolyte|LiCoO 2 cells containing the IL/Bpyps electrolyte system exhibited high capacities in the cut-off voltage range of 3.0–4.6 V, even after 50 cycles. The increase in the interfacial resistance between the electrolyte and cathode with cycling was suppressed. In the cyclic voltammograms of cells employing a graphite electrode, the intercalation/deintercalation of lithium ions were observed in the range of 0 and + 0.4 V vs. Li/Li + . Further, graphite|electrolyte|Li cells containing [P13][FSA]/LiTFSA/Bpyps exhibited stable charge/discharge cycle behaviour over 50 cycles.