Fig. 3: Mapping the interfacial reaction pathways and correlating them with the failure of LMBs.

a, A schematic of interfacial reaction pathways in LMBs with LiFSI–1.2DME–3TTE as the electrolyte. b–d, Free energy diagrams of the pathways of LiFSI reduction (b), DME reduction (c) and DME oxidation (d). TM stands for transition metal. \(\Delta {G}^{\ddagger }\) represents the reaction activation energy. e, Cycling performances of a Cu||NMC811 and a 50 μm Li||NMC811 SLS pouch cells (under 0.2–1 C at 25 °C and between 2.8 V and 4.3 V). f,g, Consumption of DME, LiFSI (f) and TTE (g) during the cycling of Cu||NMC811 and 50 μm Li||NMC811 SLS pouch cells (under 0.2–1 C at 25 °C and between 2.8 V and 4.3 V). Each data point represents the average of four replicate samples, and the error bars indicate the standard errors. h, Molar concentrations, dynamic viscosities and bulk ionic conductivities of the electrolyte formulations at different cycles of 50 μm Li||NMC811 SLS pouch cells (Methods and Supplementary Note 8). i, Cycling performances of fresh 50 μm Li||NMC811 cells with LHCEs with lower Li salt molar concentrations. j, Simulated discharge potential profiles of a 50 μm Li||NMC811 SLS pouch cell at different cycles. k, Simulated electrolyte concentration distributions within a 50 μm Li||NMC811 SLS pouch cell at different cycles. Molar concentration and bulk ionic conductivity data of the electrolyte were extracted from h for the simulation.