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Title: Localized high-concentration electrolytes get more localized through micelle-like structures

Journal Article · · Nature Materials
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [4];  [5];  [3];  [5]; ORCiD logo [5]; ORCiD logo [6]; ORCiD logo [7]; ORCiD logo [7]; ORCiD logo [7]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [7]; ORCiD logo [6]; ORCiD logo [7]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [8]
  1. Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Boise State Univ., ID (United States)
  2. Brown Univ., Providence, RI (United States)
  3. Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
  4. Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN)
  5. Boise State Univ., ID (United States)
  6. Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
  7. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
  8. Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Boise State Univ., ID (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Liquid electrolytes in batteries are typically treated as macroscopically homogeneous ionic transport media despite having a complex chemical composition and atomistic solvation structures, leaving a knowledge gap of the microstructural characteristics. Here, we reveal a unique micelle-like structure in a localized high-concentration electrolyte, in which the solvent acts as a surfactant between an insoluble salt in a diluent. The miscibility of the solvent with the diluent and simultaneous solubility of the salt results in a micelle-like structure with a smeared interface and an increased salt concentration at the centre of the salt–solvent clusters that extends the salt solubility. These intermingling miscibility effects have temperature dependencies, wherein a typical localized high-concentration electrolyte peaks in localized cluster salt concentration near room temperature and is used to form a stable solid–electrolyte interphase on a Li metal anode. Importantly, these findings serve as a guide to predicting a stable ternary phase diagram and connecting the electrolyte microstructure with electrolyte formulation and formation protocols of solid–electrolyte interphases for enhanced battery cyclability.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II); Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Sustainable Transportation. Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704; AC07-05ID14517
OSTI ID:
2205647
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 2328511; OSTI ID: 2386883; OSTI ID: 2251586
Report Number(s):
BNL--224993-2023-JAAM
Journal Information:
Nature Materials, Journal Name: Nature Materials Journal Issue: 12 Vol. 22; ISSN 1476-1122
Publisher:
Springer NatureCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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