Stable lithium electrodeposition in salt-reinforced electrolytes

© 2015 Elsevier B.V. Development of high-energy lithium-based batteries that are safe remains a challenge due to the non-uniform lithium electrodeposition during repeated charge and discharge cycles. We report on the effectiveness of lithium bromide (LiBr) salt additives in a common liquid electrolyte (i.e. propylene carbonate (PC)) on the stability of lithium electrodeposition. From galvanostatic cycling measurements, we find that the presence of LiBr in PC provides more than 20-fold enhancement in cell lifetime over the control LiTFSI/PC electrolyte. Batteries containing 30 mol% LiBr additive in the electrolytes are able to cycle stably for at least 1.8 months with no observations of cell failure. From galvanostatic polarization measurements, an electrolyte containing 30 mol% LiBr shows a maximum improvement in lifetime. The formation of uneven lithium electrodeposits is significantly suppressed by the Br-containing SEI layers, evidenced by impedance spectra, post-mortem SEM and XPS analyses. The study also concludes that good solubility of halogenated salts is not necessary for achieving the observed improvements in cell lifetime.