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Research Article

Boosting reversible charging of Li-ion batteries at low temperatures by a synergy of propylene carbonate-based electrolyte and defective graphite

Yingqiang Wu1, Jiao Zhang1,2, Jinli Liu1,3, Li Sheng1( ), Bo Zhang1, Limin Wang2, Siqi Shi4( ), Li Wang1, Hong Xu1, Xiangming He1( )
Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Changchun 130022, China
China National Quality Supervision and Inspection Center for Industrial Explosive Materials, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Materials Genome Institute, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China
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Graphical Abstract

Reversible charging of pouch-type Li-ion batteries at −20 °C is boosted by a synergy of propylene carbonate (PC)-based electrolyte and defective graphite anode.

Abstract

Propylene carbonate (PC)-based electrolytes have exhibited significant advantages in boosting the low-temperature discharging of graphite-based Li-ion batteries. However, it is still unclear whether they can improve the charging property and suppress lithium plating. Studying this topic is challenging due to the problem of electrochemical compatibility. To overcome this issue, we introduced graphite with phase defects. The results show that the pouch-type full batteries using PC-based electrolyte exhibit steady performance over 500 cycles and can be reversibly charged over 30 times at −20 °C with an average Coulombic efficiency of 99.95%, while the corresponding value for the conventional ethylene carbonate (EC)-based electrolyte sample is only 31.20%. This indicates that the use of PC-based electrolyte significantly suppresses lithium plating during low-temperature charging. We further demonstrate that the improved performance is mainly attributed to the unique solvation structure, where more PF6− anions participate in solvation, leading to the formation of a stable F-rich solid state electrolyte interface on the graphite surface and a lower reduction tendency of Li+ ions. This work inspires new ideas for the design of PC-based electrolytes for low-temperature charging and fast-charging batteries.

Keywords

lithium-ion batteriesgraphitepropylene carbonatelow-temperature charging

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Nano Research
Volume 17 Issue 3,
March 2024
Pages 1491-1499
DOI: 10.1007/s12274-023-5968-4
Cite this article:
Wu Y, Zhang J, Liu J, et al. Boosting reversible charging of Li-ion batteries at low temperatures by a synergy of propylene carbonate-based electrolyte and defective graphite. Nano Research, 2024, 17(3): 1491-1499. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-5968-4
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Secondary batteries

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Received: 06 March 2023
Revised: 13 June 2023
Accepted: 28 June 2023
Published: 27 July 2023
© Tsinghua University Press 2023
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