Research at TU Delft found that introducing a little disorder in a battery’s electrolyte goes a long way in improving its lifetime.
Lithium-ion battery life improves significantly when a single-compound electrolyte is swapped for one consisting of five salts, researchers from Delft University of Technology found. Thanks to their cocktail of five lithium salts, a more stable ‘coating’ is formed on electrodes, allowing batteries to last up to twice as long. Other combinations of salts could work even better.
An electrolyte is an ion-containing organic liquid that shuttles lithium ions back and forth between electrodes. During charging and discharging some of its constituents decompose, forming a solid film on the electrodes’ surface. This so-called solid-electrolyte interface (SEI) has a profound impact on battery performance, including lifetime.
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