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Energy Materials and Devices 2023, 1(2): 9370022 https://doi.org/10.26599/EMD.2023.9370022
Research Article | Open Access | Issue | Published: 30 January 2024

Enhanced safety of sulfone-based electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries: broadening electrochemical window and enhancing thermal stability

Show Author's Information Qiaojun Li1,†,  Wenya Wu1,†,  Yu Li1,2( ),  Haixia Ren1,  Chuan Wu1,2( ),  Ying Bai1,2( )
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
Yangtze Delta Region Academy of Beijing Institute of Technology, Jiaxing 314019, China

† Qiaojun Li and Wenya Wu contributed equally to this work.

Keywords:
thermal stability, lithium-ion batteries, electrolyte additive, sulfone-based electrolytes, nonflammability
Cite this article:
Li Q, Wu W, Li Y, et al. Enhanced safety of sulfone-based electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries: broadening electrochemical window and enhancing thermal stability. Energy Materials and Devices, 2023, 1(2): 9370022. https://doi.org/10.26599/EMD.2023.9370022
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

To meet the demands of high-voltage lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), we develop a novel electrolyte through theoretical calculations and electrochemical characterization. Triphenylphosphine oxide (TPPO) is introduced as a film-forming additive into a sulfone-based electrolyte containing 1 mol L−1 lithium difluoro(oxalate)borate. Density functional theory calculations show that TPPO has a lower reduction potential than the sulfone-based solvent. Hence, TPPO should be oxidized before the sulfone-based solvent and form a cathode electrolyte interphase layer on the Li-rich cathode. Our research findings demonstrate that adding 2 wt% TPPO to the sulfone-based electrolyte considerably enhances the ionic conductivity within a range of 20–60 ℃. In addition, it increases the discharge capacity of LIBs in a range of 2–4.8 V while maintaining excellent rate performance and cycling stability. Flammability tests and thermal gravimetric analysis results indicate excellent nonflammability and thermal stability of the electrolyte.


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About this article

Enhanced safety of sulfone-based electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries: broadening electrochemical window and enhancing thermal stability

Show Author's information Qiaojun Li1,†, Wenya Wu1,†, Yu Li1,2( ), Haixia Ren1, Chuan Wu1,2( ), Ying Bai1,2( )
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
Yangtze Delta Region Academy of Beijing Institute of Technology, Jiaxing 314019, China

† Qiaojun Li and Wenya Wu contributed equally to this work.

Abstract

To meet the demands of high-voltage lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), we develop a novel electrolyte through theoretical calculations and electrochemical characterization. Triphenylphosphine oxide (TPPO) is introduced as a film-forming additive into a sulfone-based electrolyte containing 1 mol L−1 lithium difluoro(oxalate)borate. Density functional theory calculations show that TPPO has a lower reduction potential than the sulfone-based solvent. Hence, TPPO should be oxidized before the sulfone-based solvent and form a cathode electrolyte interphase layer on the Li-rich cathode. Our research findings demonstrate that adding 2 wt% TPPO to the sulfone-based electrolyte considerably enhances the ionic conductivity within a range of 20–60 ℃. In addition, it increases the discharge capacity of LIBs in a range of 2–4.8 V while maintaining excellent rate performance and cycling stability. Flammability tests and thermal gravimetric analysis results indicate excellent nonflammability and thermal stability of the electrolyte.

Keywords: thermal stability, lithium-ion batteries, electrolyte additive, sulfone-based electrolytes, nonflammability

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Publication history

Received: 03 January 2024
Revised: 20 January 2024
Accepted: 21 January 2024
Published: 30 January 2024
Issue date: December 2023

Copyright

© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Tsinghua University Press.

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2022YFB2404400), the Science and Technology Program of Guangdong Province (2020B0909030004), the funding from General Research Institute for Nonferrous Metals (C712620213102034), and the Beijing Institute of Technology Research Fund Program for Young Scholars (XSQD-202108005).

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