Variant-Localized High-Concentration Electrolyte without Phase Separation for Low-Temperature Batteries

Dual-ion batteries (DIBs) present great application potential in low-temperature energy storage scenarios due to their unique dual-ion working mechanism. However, at low temperatures, the insufficient electrochemical oxidation stability of electrolytes and depressed interfacial compatibility impair the DIB performance. Here, we design a variant-localized high-concentration solvation structure for universal low-temperature electrolytes (nu-LHCE) without the phase separation via introducing an extremely weak-solvating solvent with low energy levels. The unique solvation structure gives the nu-LHCE enhanced electrochemical oxidation stability. Meanwhile, the extremely weak-solvating solvent can competitively participate in the Li+-solvated coordination, which improves the Li+ transfer kinetics and boosts the formation of robust interphases. Thus, the nu-LHCE electrolyte not only has a good high-voltage stability of >5.5 V and proper Li+ transference number of 0.51 but also shows high ionic conductivities of 1 mS/cm at low temperatures. Consequently, the nu-LHCE electrolyte enables different types of batteries to achieve excellent long-term cycling stability and good rate capability at both room and low temperatures. Especially, the capacity retentions of the DIB are 77.7 % and 51.6 %, at -40 degrees C and -60 degrees C, respectively, indicating great potential for low-temperature energy storage applications, such as polar exploration, emergency communication equipment, and energy storage station in cold regions.