(Invited) Role of the Electrolyte on Li Cation Electrodeposition and Intercalation

Abstract

Cation transport through the electrolyte to the anode is one most important steps to understand desolvation and diffusion through the electrolyte phase To help understanding this step, there is a sustained development of sophisticated in situ surface science and electrochemical techniques, and first-principles based computational methods. In this work, we analyze the structure and dynamics of state-of-the-art electrolytes particularly at interfaces of typical intercalation anodes. We use classical reactive molecular dynamics and ab initio molecular dynamics to characterize the interfacial systems, and constrained molecular dynamics to investigate the role of highly structured solvation structures on cation deposition and intercalation.