(Invited) Electrolytes for Wide-Temperature Application Range of Lithium Ion Batteries

Abstract

The electrolyte often dominates the temperature range within which lithium (Li) ion batteries (LIBs) operate, thus developing new class of electrolytes in LIBs for wide temperature applications especially at low temperature environment will be quite essential for further development of LIBs. In this study, after a lot of electrolyte screening work, we developed new optimized electrolytes containing multiple functional additives to enable the LIBs to perform well in a wide temperature range. Importantly, those cells based on the above optimized electrolytes have been proven to behave significantly enhancement in discharging performance at −40°C, the long-term cycling stability at 25°C (more than 85% of capacity retention after 1000 cycles at 1C/1C rates), as well as the obviously improved cycling stability at 60°C. These remarkable results indicate that the optimized electrolytes with multiple additives are worth considering for further development of LIBs in wide-temperature application range. Some underlying mechanisms behind the high-performance battery electrolytes have been investigated and will be presented at the meeting. Our finding on the new functional electrolytes would favorably widen the working temperature range of future LIBs, especially for electric vehicles at low temperatures. Acknowledgement This work was supported by the Technology Commercialization Fund program, Office of Technology Transitions, of the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE).