Development of Novel Electrolytes for High-Energy Lithium Metal Batteries Operating at Ultra-Low Temperatures

High energy density secondary batteries that can withstand harsh temperature environments are vital for the long term mission of NASA and the operation of advanced electronic devices in space. However, the current intercalation-based lithium-ion battery chemistries are approaching the theoretical limit of their energy density and suffer from extremely reduced performance below -20 oC. Both of these limitations arise from typical organic electrolytes, which lack the electrochemical stability to support high voltage Li metal batteries ( > 350 Wh/kg) and typically employ high melting point solvents with poor mass transport properties that exhibit sluggish ion desolvation during battery discharge. We propose to simultaneously solve these limitations by employing a new class of sub-zero electrolytes through a set of innovative design principles, which have demonstrated unprecedented performance metrics in preliminary studies. We intend to further investigate these design principles through fundamental electrochemistry, advanced materials characterization, and theoretical modeling to produce practical lithium metal full cells capable of operating at ultra-low temperatures with high reversibility.

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