Recent progress in electrolyte design for advanced lithium metal batteries

Abstract

Lithium metal batteries (LMBs) have attracted considerable interest for use in electric vehicles and as next‐generation energy storage devices because of their high energy density. However, a significant practical drawback with LMBs is the instability of the Li metal/electrolyte interface, with concurrent parasitic reactions and dendrite growth, that leads to low Coulombic efficiency and poor cycle life. Owing to the significant role of electrolytes in batteries, rationally designed electrolytes can improve the electrochemical performance of LMBs and possibly achieve fast charge and a wide range of working temperatures to meet various requirements of the market in the future. Although there are some review papers about electrolytes for LMBs, the focus has been on a single parameter or single performance separately and, therefore, not sufficient for the design of electrolytes for advanced LMBs for a wide range of working environments. This review presents a systematic summary of recent progress made in terms of electrolytes, covering the fundamental understanding of the mechanism, scientific challenges, and strategies to address drawbacks of electrolytes for high‐performance LMBs. The advantages and disadvantages of various electrolyte strategies are also analyzed, yielding suggestions for optimum properties of electrolytes for advanced LMBs applications. Finally, the most promising research directions for electrolytes are discussed briefly.

Recent Advances in Developing High-Performance Solid-State Lithium Batteries: Interface Engineering

“…Electrolytes need to form a stable SEI with both cathode and anode materials or be chemically stable with both for optimal battery performance. In addition, the electrolytes must possess a high level of electrochemical stability to guarantee battery performance stability. , When both the anode and cathode are made of Li metal, one of the most stable types of SSEs is a garnet SSE. Figure b shows that the huge electrochemical window of garnet SSEs (CV measurements show >6 V versus Li/Li + , whereas computational analysis shows only 3 V) paves the way for the creation of high-voltage batteries .…”

Recent Advances in the Development of Li‐Air Batteries, Experimental and Predictive Approaches – Prospective, Challenges, and Opportunities

“…This can lead to faster reaction kinetics, reduced mass transport limitations, and lower overpotential 101, 102. Electrolyte design: Tailoring the electrolyte composition can influence ion transport and reaction kinetics. Using suitable electrolytes that are compatible with the battery's materials and can support the desired electrochemical reactions can help reduce overpotential 103. Surface modification: Coating the electrode surfaces with protective layers or functional materials can enhance the stability of the electrode‐electrolyte interface. This can reduce side reactions and passivation, which can contribute to overpotential 104. Advanced separator materials: Improved separator materials with enhanced ionic conductivity and reduced resistance can facilitate ion transport within the battery, contributing to lower overpotential 105, 106. Ionic liquid electrolytes: Ionic liquid electrolytes have been explored as an alternative to traditional organic electrolytes 107.…”

Spatially Confined Fe7S8 Nanoparticles Anchored on a Porous Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanosheet Skeleton for High-Rate and Durable Sodium Storage

“…With the rising demand for sustainable grid-scale energy storage, sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have aroused great interest as a type of promising battery technology complementary or alternative to traditional lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) on account of the overwhelming superiority in abundant resource, high economic efficiency, and suitable redox potential. − As one of the pivotal parts influencing the performance of SIBs, various anode materials have been extensively investigated in the past decade, ranging from carbonaceous materials to metal alloys, − transition metal sulfides, − selenides, and phosphides. − Particularly, pyrrhotite Fe 7 S 8 with mixed valence states of Fe 2+ and Fe 3+ has recently triggered much broad attention because of its high theoretical capacity (663 mAh g –1 ), low cost, environmental compatibility, as well as acceptable discharge/charge voltage plateaus . However, Fe 7 S 8 usually suffers from severe volumetric variation, poor electrical conductivity, and serious dissolution of polysulfides during sodiation and desodiation processes, leading to the structural pulverization/aggregation and rapid deterioration of rate and cycling performances, which largely impede the practical application of Fe 7 S 8 in the field of SIBs.…”