Electrolyte Design for NMC811||SiO_x-Gr Lithium-Ion Batteries with Excellent Low-Temperature and High-Rate Performance

The use of high-nickel NMC811 cathode and SiO_x-Gr anode can greatly improve the overall energy densities of lithium-ion batteries. However, the unfavorable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer generated from the decomposition of EC-based electrolytes lead to the poor cycling stability of NMC811||SiO_x-Gr cells. Here we report an electrolyte design of 1.5 M LiPF₆ dissolved in FEC/MA/BN 2:2:6 by volume, which can form thin, robust, and homogeneous SEI layer to greatly improve the charge transfer at the electrode-electrolyte interface. Importantly, the designed electrolyte shows an outstanding low temperature performance that it can deliver a capacity of 123.3 mAh g^–1 after 50 cycles at −20 °C with a current density of 0.5 C, overwhelming the standard EC-based electrolyte (1.2 M LiPF₆ EC/EMC 3:7 by volume) with a capacity of 35.7 mAh g^–1. The electrolyte also has a superior rate performance that it achieves a capacity of 122.5 mAh g⁻¹ at a high current density of 10 C. Moreover, the LTE electrolyte holds the great potential of extreme fast-charging ability because of the large part of CC contribution in the CCCV charging model at high charging current densities.. Authors: He, Wei [University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI (United States)] (ORCID:0000000222110126); Yeddala, Munaiah [University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI (United States)]; Rynearson, Leah [University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI (United States)] (ORCID:0000000334727630); Lucht, Brett [University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI (United States)] (ORCID:0000000246600840). DOE Contract: SC0021392. Subjects: Electrochemistry; Materials Science