Isoxazole-Based Electrolytes for Lithium Metal Protection and Lithium-Sulfurized Polyacrylonitrile (SPAN) Battery Operating at Low Temperature

A new electrolyte system using isoxazole as the salt dissolving solvent has been developed and studied for lithium metal batteries. By using fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) as an additive and 1,1,2,2-tetrafluoroethyl-2,2,3,3-tetrafluoropropyl ether (TTE) as a diluent for localized high concentration electrolyte (LHCE), isoxazole-based electrolytes were successfully implemented in lithium metal batteries, demonstrating excellent lithium metal protection capability. Utilizing several advanced characterization techniques (including synchrotron-based X-ray absorption spectroscopy and photoelectron spectroscopy), the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) formed on the Li-metal anode in cells using these electrolytes was thoroughly investigated. The high ionic conductivity of isoxazole at low temperature and the low impedance of SEI formed in LHCE significantly improved the low-temperature performance of Li-sulfurized polyacrylonitrile (SPAN) batteries, delivering 273.8 mAh g -1 capacity at -30°C with 99.85% capacity retention after 50 cycles. Acknowledgment: The work done at Brookhaven National Laboratory was supported by the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Vehicle Technology Office of the US Department of Energy (DOE) through the Advanced Battery Materials Research (BMR) Program, including Battery500 Consortium under contract number DE-SC0012704. This research used beamline 8-BM (TES) and 7-ID-2 (SST-2) of the National Synchrotron Light Source II, U.S. DOE Office of Science User Facilities, operated for the DOE Office of Science by Brookhaven National Laboratory under contract number DE-SC0012704. SEM measurements for this manuscript were performed at Center for Functional Nanomaterials, a U.S. DOE office of Science User Facility, at Brookhaven National Laboratory under the contract number DE-SC0012704.