Diminishing ether-oxygen content of electrolytes enables temperature-immune lithium metal batteries

The reversibility of lithium (Li) metal anodes is highly susceptible to temperature, owing to the aggravated side reactions at high temperatures and serious Li dendrite growth at low temperatures. Thus it is extremely challenging to simultaneously realize the high Li reversibility in both low and high temperature scenarios. Herein, an oxygen-free solvent (n-hexane, HEX) assisted with the hexyl methyl ether and 1 mol L-1 lithium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide is proposed to constitute an electrolyte for temperature-immune lithium metal batteries. It demonstrates that the HEX not only greatly suppresses the solvent reduction even at high temperatures but also weaken the Li+-solvent interaction for the facile Li-ion desolvation, leading to high Li Coulombic efficiencies (99.59% at 25 & DEG;C, 99.30% at 60 & DEG;C and 98.75% at -30 & DEG;C) and the dendrite-free Li plating from -30 & DEG;C to 60 & DEG;C. Benefitting from the low density and temperature-immune properties of our electrolyte, the sulfurized polyacrylonitrile (3.8 mAh cm(-2))& PAR;Li (60 & mu;m) pouch-cells deliver 278 Wh kg(-1) energy density and maintain the stable performance over 50 cycles, and retain 248 and 320 Wh kg(-1) energy density at -30 & DEG;C and 60 & DEG;C, respectively. This work provides a new perspective on the electrolyte design for wide-temperature Li metal batteries.

Automated summary

A novel electrolyte composed of n-hexane, hexyl methyl ether, and 1 mol/L lithium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide is proposed for temperature-immune lithium metal batteries. This electrolyte not only suppresses solvent reduction and Li+-solvent interaction, but also enables high Li Coulombic efficiencies and dendrite-free Li plating across a wide temperature range (-30°C to 60°C).