Search

LiCoO₂ faces challenges at high voltages due to structural instability and poor thermal/hydrolytic performance of traditional lithium salts. Here, authors show stable LiCoO₂ batteries at 4.7 V using covalent fluorine-rich lithium salt, exhibiting good heat and water tolerance.

Cation solvation in batteries is well understood in bulk solutions but less so at electrode/electrolyte interfaces. This study reveals how external and intramolecular fields affect Li-ion solvation, proposing a dielectric protocol to enhance cation–anion coordination and improve performance in Li-metal pouch cells.

Electrolyte design is key for high-energy lithium metal batteries, but structure–performance links are hard to predict. A framework using the normalized cation/anion–solvent affinity enables quantitative prediction of microstructure, transport and interphase, driving exceptional performance.

The low conductivity of LiF disturbs Li⁺ diffusion across solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) and induces Li⁺ transfer-driven dendritic growth. Herein, the authors establish a mechanistic model to decipher how the SEI affects realistic Li plating in high-fluorine electrolytes.

Conventional Li-ion battery electrolytes often show sluggish kinetics and severe degradation due to high Li⁺ desolvation energies and poor compatibility. Now, a molecular-docking strategy between solvents and inducers has been shown to enable dynamic Li⁺ coordination that promotes fast, stable and high-voltage lithium battery chemistries.

The parasitic reactions at the electrolyte/electrode interfaces inhibit the increase of the charging cut-off voltage and the improvement of energy density. Herein, the authors design multifunctional solvent molecules and propose a practical design principle to stabilize the electrolyte/electrode interfaces for high-voltage Li ion batteries.

An electrolyte design using small-sized fluoroacetonitrile solvents to form a ligand channel produces lithium-ion batteries simultaneously achieving high energy density, fast charging and wide operating temperature range, desirable features for batteries working in extreme conditions.

Hydrogen isotope effect in metal-hydrogen systems disturbs precise Deuterium/Tritium (D/T) ratio control. Here, the authors demonstrate a local coordination strategy that comprises thermodynamic destabilization with vibration enhancement of interstitial isotopes for isotope engineering.

Homo radical spin-pairing interactions between two identical aromatic radicals are common in supramolecular chemistry, but hetero interactions between two different aromatic radicals are seldom observed. Here, the authors find that hetero radical pairing between a radical cation and a radical anion, together with Coulombic attraction, can drive host-guest recognition, representing a new supramolecular recognition motif.