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1. Pyrrolidinium Ionic Liquid Electrolyte with Bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide and Bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide Anions: Lithium Solvation and Mobility, and Performance in Lithium Metal–Lithium Iron Phosphate Batteries

   https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.iecr.9b03202  

   Huang, Qianwen ; Lee, Yun-Yang ; Gurkan, Burcu ( December 2019 , Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research)
2. Lithium Tritelluride as an Electrolyte Additive for Stabilizing Lithium Deposition and Enhancing Sulfur Utilization in Anode‐Free Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

   https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202304568  

   Lai, Tianxing ; Bhargav, Amruth ; Manthiram, Arumugam ( June 2023 , Advanced Functional Materials)

   Despite the potential to become the next‐generation energy storage technology, practical lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries are still plagued by the poor cyclability of the lithium‐metal anode and sluggish conversion kinetics of S species. In this study, lithium tritelluride (LiTe₃), synthesized with a simple one‐step process, is introduced as a novel electrolyte additive for Li–S batteries. LiTe₃quickly reacts with lithium polysulfides and functions as a redox mediator to greatly improve the cathode kinetics and the utilization of active materials in the cathode. Moreover, the formation of a Li₂TeS₃/Li₂Te‐enriched interphase layer on the anode surface enhances ionic transport and stabilizes Li deposition. By regulating the chemistry on both the anode and cathode sides, this additive enables a stable operation of anode‐free Li–S batteries with only 0.1 mconcentration in conventional ether‐based electrolytes. The cell with the LiTe₃additive retains 71% of the initial capacity after 100 cycles, while the control cell retains only 23%. More importantly, with high utilization of Te, the additive enables significantly better cyclability of anode‐free pouch full‐cells under lean electrolyte conditions.

    

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3. Cations Mediate Lithium Polysulfide Adsorption in Metal–Organic Frameworks for Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

   https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.3c05539  

   Jarrín, Roberto A. ; Bennett, Kevin ; Thoi, V. Sara ; Bukowski, Brandon C. ( November 2023 , The Journal of Physical Chemistry C)
4. Fluorination promotes lithium salt dissolution in borate esters for lithium metal batteries

   https://doi.org/10.1039/D3TA06228G  

   Ma, Peiyuan ; Kumar, Ritesh ; Vu, Minh Canh ; Wang, Ke-Hsin ; Mirmira, Priyadarshini ; Amanchukwu, Chibueze V. ( January 2024 , Journal of Materials Chemistry A)

   Lithium metal batteries promise higher energy densities than current lithium-ion batteries but require novel electrolytes to extend their cycle life. Fluorinated solvents help stabilize the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) with lithium metal, but are believed to have weaker solvation ability compared to their nonfluorinated counterparts and are deemed ‘poorer electrolytes’. In this work, we synthesize tris(2-fluoroethyl) borate (TFEB) as a new fluorinated borate ester solvent and show that TFEB unexpectedly has higher lithium salt solubility than its nonfluorinated counterpart (triethyl borate). Through experiments and simulations, we show that the partially fluorinated –CH2F group acts as the primary coordination site that promotes lithium salt dissolution. TFEB electrolyte has a higher lithium transference number and better rate capability compared to methoxy polyethyleneglycol borate esters reported in the literature. In addition, TFEB supports compact lithium deposition morphology, high lithium metal Coulombic efficiency, and stable cycling of lithium metal/LiFePO4 cells. This work ushers in a new electrolyte design paradigm where partially fluorinated moieties enable salt dissolution and can serve as primary ion coordination sites for next-generation electrolytes. 

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5. Pre-Lithiation Strategies and Energy Density Theory of Lithium-Ion and Beyond Lithium-Ion Batteries

   https://doi.org/10.1149/1945-7111/ac6540  

   Zheng, Jim P. ; Andrei, Petru ; Jin, Liming ; Zheng, Junsheng ; Zhang, Cunman ( April 2022 , Journal of The Electrochemical Society)

   Pre-lithiation is the most effective method to overcome the initial capacity loss of high-capacity electrodes and has the potential to be used in beyond-conventional lithium-ion batteries. In this article we focus on two types of pre-lithiation: the first type can be applied to batteries in which the cathode has been fully lithiated but the anode has a large initial capacity loss, such as batteries made with lithium metal oxide cathode and silicon-carbon anode. The second type can be applied to batteries in which both electrodes are initially lithium-free and suffer a loss of lithium during the initial cycles, such as batteries made with sulfurized-polyacrylonitrile cathode and silicon-carbon anode. We describe the pre-lithiation procedures and electrode potential profiles during pre-lithiation corresponding to different pre-lithiation sources for both types of pre-lithiation. We also derive formulas for the theoretical specific energy and energy density that are based entirely on measurable parameters such as specific capacities, porosities, mass densities of two electrodes and extra lithium source, Coulombic efficiencies of electrodes, and the voltage of the cell. These formulas can be applied to different pre-lithiation sources to predict the specific energy of conventional and beyond-conventional lithium-ion batteries as a function of the type of pre-lithiation. 

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