Title: Transport Phenomena in Low Temperature Lithium-Ion Battery Electrolytes

Journal Article · · Journal of the Electrochemical Society

Lithium-ion batteries face low temperature performance issues, limiting the adoption of technologies ranging from electric vehicles to stationary grid storage. This problem is thought to be exacerbated by slow transport within the electrolyte, which in turn may be influenced by ion association, solvent viscosity, and cation transference number. How these factors collectively impact low temperature transport phenomena, however, remains poorly understood. Here we show using all-atom classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations that the dominant factor influencing low temperature transport in LP57 (1 M LiPF 6 in 3:7 ethylene carbonate (EC)/ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC)) is solvent viscosity, rather than ion aggregation or cation transference number. We find that ion association decreases with decreasing temperature, while the cation transference number is positive and roughly independent of temperature. In an effort to improve low temperature performance, we introduce γ -butyrolactone (GBL) as a low viscosity co-solvent to explore two alternative formulations: 1 M LiPF 6 in 15:15:70 EC/GBL/EMC and 3:7 GBL/EMC. While GBL reduces solution viscosity, its low dielectric constant results in increased ion pairing, yielding neither improved bulk ionic conductivity nor appreciably altered ion transport mechanisms. We expect that these results will enhance understanding of low temperature transport and inform the development of superior electrolytes.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Transportation Office. Vehicle Technologies Office
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1835409
Journal Information:
Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Journal Name: Journal of the Electrochemical Society Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 168; ISSN 0013-4651
Publisher:
The Electrochemical SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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