Highly reversible, safe lithium secondary batteries that use imidazolium-cation-based room-temperature ionic liquid as an electrolyte and lithium metal as an anode material were realized by the molecular design. To achieve higher reduction stability, an electron-donating substituent was introduced to promote charge delocalization in the imidazolium cation of room-temperature ionic liquids.

To understand the basic properties of lithium secondary batteries which consist of nonflammable and nonvolatile room-temperature ionic liquid electrolytes, we examined the ionic conductivity, electrolyte/electrode interfacial resistance, and charge-discharge rate characteristics by varying the lithium salt concentration in the room-temperature ionic liquid, lithium salt binary electrolytes. By using a modified imidazolium cation-based room-temperature ionic liquid as an electrolyte, the lithium secondary batteries achieved a stable charge-discharge operation of more than 100cycles (cathode LiConormalO2 , anode lithium metal, voltage region 3.0–4.2V , current density 1∕8C ). Moreover, we found that an optimal lithium salt concentration exists for obtaining an excellent battery rate performance, which depends on delicate balances in several factors, such as ionic conductivity (viscosity), interfacial resistances at the LiConormalO2 cathode/electrolyte interface, and the lithium metal anode/electrolyte interface.

The physicochemical properties (ionic conductivity, viscosity, density, and self-diffusion coefficient) of tri-n-ethylpentylphosphonium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide (TEPP-TFSA) ionic liquid were compared with those of tri-n-ethylpentylammonium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide (TEPA-TFSA). Compared with the TEPA-TFSA ionic liquid, the density and viscosity of the phosphorus ionic liquid are lower, although the ionic conductivity and self-diffusion coefficient are higher. The molar conductivities were compared for the values obtained by the electrochemical impedance method (electrochemical conductivity) and the calculated from the pulsed-gradient spin-echo nuclear magnetic resonance method (diffusive conductivity). The comparison shows that active ionic ratios of the TEPP-TFSA ionic liquid were smaller than those of the TEPA-TFSA ionic liquid in the whole temperature, regardless of the lower viscosity of the TEPP-TFSA ionic liquid, and results with high precision were obtained using Walden's law.

For the purpose of realizing high-voltage, high-capacity, long-life and safe rechargeable batteries, a lithium secondary battery that uses high-voltage stable ZrO2-coated LiCoO2 cathode powder and a nonvolatile high-safety room temperature ionic liquid was fabricated.