Low‐Temperature Electrolyte Design for Lithium‐Ion Batteries: Prospect and Challenges

Abstract

Lithium-ion batteries have dominated the energy market from portable electronic devices to electric vehicles. However, the LIBs applications are limited seriously when they were operated in the cold regions and seasons if there is no thermal protection. This is because the Li + transportation capability within the electrode and particularly in the electrolyte dropped significantly due to the decreased electrolyte liquidity, leading to a sudden decline in performance and short cycle-life. Thus, design a low-temperature electrolyte becomes ever more important to enable the further applications of LIBs. Herein, we summarize the low-temperature electrolyte development from the aspects of solvent, salt, additives, electrolyte analysis, and performance in the different battery systems. Then, we also introduce the recent new insight about the cation solvation structure, which is significant to understand the interfacial behaviors at the low temperature, aiming to guide the design of a low-temperature electrolyte more effectively.

From room temperature to harsh temperature applications: Fundamentals and perspectives on electrolytes in zinc metal batteries

“…The cold conditions will further weaken the performance of a battery with an organic electrolyte, since the ionic conductivity will be greatly diminished when the temperature decreases to subzero. Therefore, the crucial approach to enhancing the low-temperature performance of organic electrolytes is to increase their ionic conductivity, which is determined by the affinity between the organic solvent and the ions ( 7 , 12 ). A strong affinity between the solvent and zinc ions will increase the difficulty of cation desolvation and thus reduce the ionic conductivity.…”

Design strategies for low temperature aqueous electrolytes

“…The factor 1/T in pre-exponential factor ( ) f T should be attributed to the Nernst-Einstein equation [50] and ionic diffusion coefficient equation [51] as denoted in Eqs. (10) and (11). Note that the Nernst-Einstein equation works well only when ions in systems exhibit no interactions with each other [52].…”

“…Along with the development of battery technologies, battery applications at cold regions become a great challenge. Therefore, many studies have focused on improving the low temperature performance of aqueous [7,8] and non-aqueous [9][10][11] batteries. Aqueous batteries usually exhibit better rate capability than non-aqueous batteries especially at low temperature [12][13][14], suggesting their potential application prospect at cold regions.…”

Challenges and advances in wide-temperature rechargeable lithium batteries

“…Previous reviews have focused on either the improvements in a particular temperature region (LT or HT), or a single battery system for a wide temperature range. 15,[18][19][20][21] Until now, there have been no comprehensive mechanistic analysis and modulating strategies that deal with RLBs for LT, HT and all-climate operation. This review comprehensively summarizes the novel progress in RLBs working at different temperatures, especially the puzzles and progress in promoting electrode and electrolyte materials for LT, HT, and wide-temperature RLBs (Fig.…”