Designing polymer coatings for lithium metal protection

Protection of lithium metal has been one of the great challenges to realize a long-life, high-energy-density battery. Polymer coatings on lithium metal surface have been proven to be an effective protection method in terms of improved morphology, higher coulombic efficiency, and a longer cycle life. However, there is a variety of design principles of polymer coatings proposed by the research community, and the influence of polymer swelling in liquid electrolytes remains poorly understood. Herein we use crosslinking density and solvent–polymer interaction to quantitatively explain the mechanical property and the ion-transport property of polymer coatings when swollen in liquid electrolytes. Low crosslinking density is beneficial for reducing the rigidity and enhancing the viscosity of the polymer. Ion conductivity increases with the swelling ratio, and activation energy of lithium-ion transport increases in a polar polymer with strong ion–polymer coupling. We propose that polymer coatings must be combined with the emerging electrolytes with unconventional solvent compositions to realize a practical high-performance lithium metal battery. This study can provide design guidelines for polymer coatings through the optimized interactions with upcoming high-performance electrolytes.

A Theoretical Model for Computing Freezing Point Depression of Lithium-Ion Battery Electrolytes

Reliable prediction of freezing point depression in liquid electrolytes will accelerate the development of improved Li-ion batteries which can operate in low temperature environments. In this work we establish a computational methodology to calculate activity coefficients and liquidus lines for battery-relevant liquid electrolytes. Electronic structure methods are used in conjunction with classical molecular dynamics simulations and theoretical expressions for Born solvation energy, ion-atmosphere effects from Debye-Hückel theory and solvent entropic effects. The framework uses no a priori knowledge beyond neat solvent properties and the concentration of salt. LiPF 6 in propylene carbonate (PC), LiPF 6 in dimethyl carbonate (DMC) and LiClO4 in DMC are investigated up to 1 molal with accuracy better than 3◦C when compared to experimental freezing point measurements. We find that the difference in freezing point depression between the propylene carbonate-based electrolyte and the dimethyl cabonate electrolytes originates from the difference in the solvent dielectric constant.