Abstract
Rechargeable Li-metal batteries using high-voltage cathodes can deliver the highest possible energy densities among all electrochemistries. However, the notorious reactivity of metallic lithium as well as the catalytic nature of high-voltage cathode materials largely prevents their practical application. Here, we report a non-flammable fluorinated electrolyte that supports the most aggressive and high-voltage cathodes in a Li-metal battery. Our battery shows high cycling stability, as evidenced by the efficiencies for Li-metal plating/stripping (99.2%) for a 5 V cathode LiCoPO4 (~99.81%) and a Ni-rich LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2 cathode (~99.93%). At a loading of 2.0 mAh cm−2, our full cells retain ~93% of their original capacities after 1,000 cycles. Surface analyses and quantum chemistry calculations show that stabilization of these aggressive chemistries at extreme potentials is due to the formation of a several-nanometre-thick fluorinated interphase.
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Change history
04 October 2018
In the version of this Article originally published, in the first paragraph of the Methods, HFE was incorrectly given as 2,2,2-Trifluoroethyl-3ʹ,3ʹ,3ʹ,2ʹ,2ʹ-pentafluoropropyl ether; it should have been 1,1,2,2-tetrafluoroethyl-2ʹ,2ʹ,2ʹ-trifluoroethyl ether. This has now been corrected in the online versions of the Article.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the US Department of Energy (DOE) under award no. DEEE0008202 and DEEE0008200. The support of the Maryland NanoCenter and its AIM Lab is acknowledged. The authors thank K. Pupek and G. Krumdick for providing one of the fluorinated solvents, and B. Dunn for constructive discussions.
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X.F. and L.C designed the experiments and analysed data. O.B. conducted the calculations. X.F., L.C., X.J., J.C., S.H., T.D., J.Z. and C.Y. conducted electrochemical experiments. X.F. and S.-C.L. performed the TEM analysis. K.A., K.X. and C.W. conceived and supervised the project. All authors contributed to interpretation of the results.
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Supplementary Figures 1–39; Supplementary Tables 1–3; Supplementary Notes 1–2
Supplementary Video 1
Flammable test for the electrolyte of 1 M LiFSI-DME
Supplementary Video 2
Flammable test for the electrolyte of 1 M LiPF6-EC/DMC
Supplementary Video 3
Flammable test for the electrolyte of 1 M LiPF6-FEC/DMC
Supplementary Video 4
Flammable test for the electrolyte of 1 M LiPF6-FEC/FEMC/HFE
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Fan, X., Chen, L., Borodin, O. et al. Non-flammable electrolyte enables Li-metal batteries with aggressive cathode chemistries. Nature Nanotech 13, 715–722 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-018-0183-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-018-0183-2
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