Probing Solvation Thermodynamics of Lithium Battery Electrolytes through Potentiometric Methods

Abstract

The electrolyte is a principal component of a lithium battery that impacts almost every facet of the battery’s performance. Solvation of lithium ions in electrolyte solution is key to understanding the electrolyte, but our understanding of solvation lags behind its significance. Particularly, estimating solvation free energy has been largely limited to computational simulations. Despite their versatility, simulations can be computationally expensive, and experimental methods to complement simulations are desired.We have recently introduced a potentiometric technique to probe the relative solvation free energy of lithium ions in battery electrolytes. We devised an electrochemical cell composed of two half-cells, with symmetric electrodes but asymmetric electrolytes. Whereas the open circuit potential of a conventional lithium-ion battery measures the free energy differences of lithium ions in the two electrodes, our experimental setup measures the energy differences of the lithium ions in two different electrolytes. By measuring the cell potential with a reference electrolyte, we can quantitatively characterize lithium ion solvation energy of an electrolyte of interest. The effects of concentration, anion and solvent on solvation energy are explored and verified with simulations. Particularly, we establish a correlation between cell potential (Ecell) and cyclability of high-performance electrolytes for lithium metal anodes. We find that solvents with more negative cell potentials and positive solvation energies—those weakly binding to Li+—lead to improved cycling stability. Weaker solvents are conjectured to have more anion-rich solvation structures that lead to anion-derived solid-electrolyte interphases, a hypothesis supported by cryogenic electron microscopy. It reveals that weaker solvation is correlated to an inorganic anion-derived solid-electrolyte interphase that stabilizes cycling.